It seems that not a week goes by without either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi demolishing another scoring record in La Liga or on the world football stage. This weekend it was Messi’s turn as the Argentine marked the 10-year anniversary of his Barcelona debut by scoring his 250th League goal for the Catalans.
Messi’s first major contribution on Saturday, on his way to moving up to 200 fantasy football points with Eurofantasyleague.com, was to provide the assist for Xavi Hernandez to put Barcelona 1-0 up against Eibar at Camp Nou. Then, after Neymar had volleyed in a second, Messi completed the 3-0 win to take him to within just one goal of equalling former Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra’s record of 251 goals in La Liga.
Messi’s goal was also his 200th for Barcelona at Camp Nou and the victory over Eibar was his 300th win with the Catalans in all competitions. The result saw off the plucky Basque minnows and kept Luis Enrique’s side at the top of the Primera ahead of next weekend’s Clasico at Santiago Bernabeu.
The timing of his latest milestone means Messi, who is comfortably Barca’s all-time highest goalscorer, now has the perfect opportunity to become La Liga’s most prolific ever marksman next week at the home of Real Madrid, who trail Barcelona by four points despite their 5-0 win at Levante. Barca’s win over Eibar also means they have yet to concede a goal in their first eight Primera matches this season.
Barcelona dominated against a limited and defensive Eibar side. Messi was foiled by goalkeeper Xabi Irureta and the Argentinian also fired inches wide of the top corner. His 75th minute goal was the result of a one-two with Neymar, with Messi smashing the ball in off the post. Twice Messi could have equalled Zarra’s landmark in the closing stages, but was denied by Irureta to set up El Clasico as his perfect record-breaking opportunity.
Despite their near-perfect start to the Primera campaign, Barcelona were not so impressive when faced with their first real test, a Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes. Enrique’s men take on Ajax at Camp Nou on Tuesday in their second home fixture in this year’s competition and will be hoping for a better outcome.
Messi was on target in the 3-2 defeat in Paris last month, taking him to 68 Champions League goals, just four short of the record set by Raul Gonzalez. However, Enrique has publicly stated that he is more interested in Barcelona winning games than he is in Messi breaking scoring records. With the Dutch Champions having defeated Barca in Amsterdam in last season’s competition, the Coach will no doubt be approaching Tuesday night’s encounter in the same spirit.
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