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Barcelona captain Lionel Messi netted for the 644th time in a Barcelona shirt on Tuesday to beat Pele’s historic record and move out on his own when it comes to goals for a single club.
𝗦𝗶𝘅! 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆! 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿! 🐐
The Argentina international tied the Brazil legend’s record last time out in the team’s 2-2 draw against Valencia at the Camp Nou but claimed the record outright with Barca’s third of the night against Real Valladolid.
Messi struck his record goal on 65 minutes. The 33-year-old latched on to a neat pass from 18-year-old Pedri and then calmly swept the ball past goalkeeper Jordi Masip to make it 3-0.
MESSI takes his tally to 6️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ to surpass Pele and become the player with most goals scored with a single club. #ValladolidBarça
The Barcelona captain had already picked up an assist in the game. Messi crossed for Clement Lenglet to head the opener after 22 minutes. Striker Martin Braithwaite made it 2-0 following a cross from Sergino Dest 10 minutes before half-time.
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Pele Congratulates Messi
Pele has already congratulated Messi on matching his achievement. The Brazilian took to Instagram with a special message for the Barcelona captain
When your heart overflows with love, it is difficult to change your path. Like you, I know what it’s like to love wearing the same shirt every day. Like you, I know that there is nothing better than the place we feel at home. Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at Barcelona. Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately will be increasingly rare in football. I admire you very much, Leo Messi.
Messi responded swiftly with a classy message of his own. The forward wrote on Instagram, “Thank you very much for your kind message, Pele. The truth was that it was nice to see what those words mean coming from someone as great as you were. I send you a big hug!!”
Another Pichichi For Messi?
Messi’s latest goal takes him to seven for the season in La Liga so far in 2020-21 despite a tough stat to the season for Ronald Koeman’s men. The captain is yet to consistently hit top form but is still just one goal away from current La Liga top scorer Gerard Moreno.
The Barca captain scooped the Pichichi award for a record seventh time last season but told Marca he’s not thinking about winning it again at the moment.
I don’t know, I’m not really thinking about it. It’s not something that worries me. I would prefer to win LaLiga again, something which we didn’t do last season, rather than winning the Pichichi, so we will fight for that.
There’s no doubt that Messi and Barcelona have found it tough going so far this season, but it would still be no surprise if the Argentina international were to end the campaign on top of the scoring charts once again.
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Messi Beats Pele’s Record With 644th Barcelona Goal [WATCH]