Messi adds appearance record to his Barcelona honours list
Lionel Messi celebrated his record-breaking 768th appearance for Barcelona in style by scoring twice in their 6-1 rout of Real Sociedad.
The 33-year-old Argentine, who will become a free agent when his contract expires this summer, has moved one game clear of former midfielder Xavi’s total for the Catalan club.
Messi has now scored 23 league goals this season and a double on Sunday extended his tally as Barca’s record goalscorer to 663 goals in all competitions.
Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring after 37 minutes against the club where he started his career, while Sergino Dest grabbed the second just before half time after latching on to a sweeping pass from Messi.
The defender struck again early in the second half before Messi controlled a sumptuous pass from Sergio Busquets and slotted home his first of the night.
A fifth came courtesy of Ousmane Dembele on 71 minutes after a brilliant solo run while Sociedad’s Ander Barrenetxea hit arguably the best goal of the game in what was the host’s only bright spot of a tough evening in San Sebastian.
Messi, however, had the final say, finishing off a flowing team move in the 89th minute, increasing his lead at the top of the La Liga scoring charts. He sits three goals clear of former Barca teammate Luis Suarez, who now plays for title rivals Atletico Madrid.
Barca manager Ronald Koeman emphasised the importance of easing the scoring burden on Messi.
“It’s always important for players other than Leo to score goals. That way it’s much harder to defend against us,” the Dutchman said. “In a difficult game like this one, it’s vital you are effective in the box and it’s also crucial to go in front to ensure your opponents leave you more space. Once we went ahead we really punished them.”
At his recent welcome party at Camp Nou after the club elections, returning president Joan Laporta reiterated his desire to retain Messi. “I’ll do everything I can to make Leo stay because he’s the best player in history,” he said.
And after last week’s 4-1 win over Huesca, when Messi also scored twice, Koeman also made clear his admiration for the club legend.
“What more can you say?” he said. “His level over so many years, over so many games ... he’s the most important player in Barcelona’s history and thank goodness he’s still here with us.
“I think he’s shown he’s the best player in the world ... he deserves to be the focal point of this team.”
The victory at Sociedad took Barca above Real Madrid in La Liga and into second place on 62 points, four behind leaders Atletico with 10 games remaining.