After reaching 767th appearance for Barcelona, Lionel Messi is hailed to be the most important player in the club’s history by coach Ronald Koeman.
Messi inspired Barcelona to a 4-1 victory over Huesca by scoring a brace while also providing an assist to Oscar Mingueza. Not only did Mingueza scored his first goal to make the match special, Messi broke another Barca record in the process.
The match against Huesca marked Messi’s 767th appearance for the Catalan giants, matching Xavi Hernandez‘s record. The Argentine was congratulated by many of his friends and former teammates.
The 33-year-old, along with Barca, had a slow start to the current season. But Ronald Koeman’s arrival has marked a major improvement in the squad’s recent performances. While there is still a long way to go, Messi and co. are riding a massive momentum and hope to win the remaining of the trophies, La Liga and Copa del Rey.
Koeman signifies the importance of Lionel Messi for Barcelona
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After the 4-1 victory over Huesca, Koeman opened up about Messi’s significance for the club amid increasing interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City to sign the soon-to-be free-agent.
"“I think Messi has shown that he is the best, 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.”Source Goal via Marca"
Messi’s brace, however, not only broke the appearance record but also the 20-goal per season milestone. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored more than 20 goals in every season for the past 13 years. He is the only one to do that in Spanish league history.
Barca, with 59 points, are currently behind league leaders Atletico Madrid who have 63 points. With 11 games remaining in this season, and Barca set to face Atleti on the 9th of May, Koeman is keen on winning the league title in his first season as the club’s manager.
Will Barca win both La Liga and Copa del Rey?