Lionel Messi’s latest milestone arguably is his greatest one.
Messi scored a hat trick for Barcelona on Saturday against Sevilla, taking his career goals tally in Spain’s La Liga (first division) into rarefied air. Messi now has 253 career goals, breaking Telmo Zarra’s 59-year-old record for the most in Spain’s top flight.
To commemorate Messi’s new record, Barcelona released a tribute video. In it, coaches, teammates and club officials offer Messi their heart-felt congratulations and describe some of their favorite goals that he scored.
Zarra scored 251 goals in 277 games during his 15-year career with Athletic Bilbao. It took Messi 289 games over 10 seasons to pass Zarra’s mark.
Messi will tighten his grasp on the record with each La Liga goal he scores from here. Don’t be surprised if it takes 60 years or more for someone to out-do Messi’s goal-scoring feats in Spain’s first division.
Thumbnail photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo
