The 29-year-old achieved yet another milestone for
his club at El Sadar as the Catalan giants look to close the gap to Real
Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi took in his 550th appearance in a Barcelona shirt during a meeting with Osasuna on Saturday.
The Argentine ace, who came through the club’s La
Masia academy, was named in Luis Enrique’s starting XI for a clash with
the Spanish minnows at El Sadar.
Messi made his first-team breakthrough aged just 17 in October 2004
and has not looked back since, cementing his position as arguably
Barcelona’s best-ever player and scoring nearly 500 goals for the club
in that time.He has picked up 29 titles for the Catalans and will look to inspire them in their defence of the La Liga title this season, with the team currently seeking to catch arch-rivals Real Madrid in the table.
Barcelona presently sit six points behind the leaders after three consecutive draws but could halve that deficit with a win at Osasuna.
Messi will be keen to add to his tally of nine strikes in 11 La Liga outings as Luis Enrique’s men seek a vital win.