Lionel Messi Record: Barcelona Captain Equals Xavi’s Record For Most Appearances For Catalans

Against Huesca, Messi took to the pitch for his 767th game in Barca colours.

Lionel Messi is on the verge of adding another feather to his crown. On Monday, Messi equaled Xavi’s record for most appearances for Barcelona. Against Huesca, Messi took to the pitch for his 767th game in Barca colours. During the game, Messi opened the scoring in the 13th-minute and scored a brace to help Barcelona hammer Huesca 4-1.

On Sunday, when Barcelona take on Real Sociedad in an away game, Messi would surpass Xavi – who has been an icon at Camp Nou.  The club took to Twitter and posted a video of Messi’s record-equalling feat and captioned it: “☝️ #Messi767 ☝️ 🐐 The world of football in awe of Messi”.

☝️ #Messi767 ☝️
🐐 The world of football in awe of #Messi pic.twitter.com/OAfb3Np8LY

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 15, 2021

In the video, Barcelona legends like Luis Suarez and Neymar congratulate the Argentinian.

“You’re still breaking records. I think this one says a lot about you as a player and what you represent for Barcelona,” Suarez said in the video.

“We think you’re extraordinary, something from another planet,” said former Barca player Neymar.

Meanwhile, Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman also hailed the captain of the Catalans. Koeman labelled Messi – who is contemplating a move out of Camp Nou – as the most important man in Barcelona history.

“I think Messi has shown that he is the best,” Koeman said. “The first goal was fantastic. He deserves to be important for this team. I don’t know what else to say about Leo. The level he has been at for so many years, so many games. He has equalled Xavi and in principle he will surpass him on Sunday. He is the most important man in the history of this club. Luckily he is still with us.”