'You play hard': Lucas Paqueta leaves message on Bruno Guimaraes' Instagram after tough battle

Best friends Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta went from teammates to adversaries in the space of a few days.

After teaming up for Brazil during the international break, the two former Lyon stars found themselves on opposing sides on Saturday as Newcastle United took on West Ham United in a full-blooded game that had everything.

The two Brazilians, best friends off the pitch, threw that friendship out the window for 90+ minutes as the two clashed several times throughout the game.

There were many incidents when one or the other ended up flat out on the pitch after a bracing coming together, but it almost always resulted in a friendly pat or a hug.

Bruno and Paqueta tussled many times during the game

In the end it was Bruno's Newcastle that emerged victorious on the day despite West Ham having a two-goal lead for a large chunk of the second half.

Lucas Paqueta got the assist for the first goal and was instrumental in West Ham's second while Bruno struck the crossbar with a curling effort from outside the area.

Both players gave everything for their respective teams and there was no bitterness at full-time despite the battling nature of the match.

It was all love and smiles again at full-time

Bruno Guimaraes took to Instagram to celebrate the win and to thank the Newcastle fans for their support:

"What a gameeee 😱! St James Park makes things possible!! Together we can do this"

Lucas Paqueta, as he so often does, commented below showing that you can be enemies on the pitch but once that full-time whistle blows, it's all good.

"I love you buddy, you play hard"