Messi marks Barcelona milestone with goal but Catalans falter against Cadiz
Baku, February 22, AZERTAC
Lionel Messi marked his latest Barcelona milestone with a goal against Cadiz as he surpassed club legend Xavi in the Camp Nou history books, but the Argentine was left frustrated by a late equalizer, according to goal.com.
Messi fired in a 32nd-minute penalty to give Barca the lead in the home fixture against Cadiz on Sunday - converting calmly from 12 yards after Pedri was fouled in the box.
Cadiz scored a late penalty of their own through Alex Fernandez to earn a 1-1 draw, but Messi's 21st goal of the season still capped a history-making occasion that saw him move ahead of Xavi as the player with the most La Liga appearances in the history of the club.
Messi has now appeared in 506 games in the Spanish top flight for the Blaugrana, one more than Xavi, who left Camp Nou back in 2015.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is also now closing in on his former team-mate's all-time mark across all competitions of 767, with his latest outing against Cadiz taking him up to a grand total of 761.
Messi will almost certainly move ahead of Xavi before the season reaches its conclusion, which will only serve to cement his standing as Barca's greatest ever player.
The 33-year-old is already the club's all-time scorer with 654 goals to his name, and he has also won more trophies than any other player to have ever been on the books at Camp Nou (34).
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