Lionel Messi made Barcelona history in style against Huesca.The six-time Ballon d'Or winner has made a stunning start to 2021 and went down in the record books for the Blaugrana on Monday night by equalling the club's all-time appearance record.You know you're doing something right when you're appearing alongside Xavi at the best of times, but to stand by his side with a record number of outings for Barcelona is truly something else.
Historic night for Messi
The two Blaugrana heroes are now locked on 767 appearances and barring any serious injuries, it's inevitable that Messi will raise the bar to a new figure in the weeks and months to come.
However, it's clear that Messi wasn't just settling for another record in his burgeoning collection because he was sure to produce his latest wonder goal of the year for the Catalans.
Besides, less than one week after he fired a stunning strike past Paris Saint-Germain, the 33-year-old arguably went one better with a scintillating effort off the crossbar at Camp Nou.
Messi's screamer vs Huesca
After pulling off a ballerina-like turn on the edge of the penalty area, Messi sent a stunning strike towards the top-left corner, watching as his thunderbolt crashed in off the crossbar.
We're not going to attempt to describe the goal anymore beyond that because it really does have to be seen to be believed, so check out the remarkable finish down below:
It's almost as though Messi is one of the greatest players of all time...
Messi's appetite for screamers
At this point, it seems laughable to look back and think that some supporters were fearing that Messi was on the decline when he took so long to score his first goal from open play this season.
Now, the better question is to ask when Messi will stop scoring them because I can't be alone in thinking this is the most frequently that the Barca ace has scored long-range goals in a long time.
And while his PSG effort might have been struck from further out and with greater venom, there's just something about a goal ricocheting off the crossbar that always takes the cake for me.