As Barcelona prepare to host Valencia at Nou Camp in La Liga on Sunday, we take a look at one specific player - Lionel Messi. La Pulga has quite an impressive record against Los Che as you are about to find out.
Messi's third-favorite opponent
Did you know that Valencia are Lionel Messi's thrid-favorite opponent in Spain? The football god has scored a total of 22 goals against the La Liga outfit, which is the same amount of goals he has scored against Atletico Bilbao. Only Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have conceded more goals from the Argentine forward (27 goals each)
Messi Against Valencia 25 games 22 goals 10 assists all comp.....Last 3 games all comp 6 goals 1 assists pic.twitter.com/lZn95nCtNR
— BARCA Rolf Lund (@Vedtravare) March 14, 2017
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner celebrates his goal against Valencia at the Mestalla last year
Messi's overal statistics against Valencia
Games played: 25
Goals scored: 22
Assists provided: 10
The last time these two sides met was back in October 2016. Leo scored a late penalty aftter Luis Suarez was brought down in the box. The goal, which gave the Catalans a 3-2 win, was marred by fan protests.
Messi goals - fav opponents:
— Barca Galaxy (@barcagalaxy) March 14, 2017
27 Sevilla
27 Atletico
22 Valencia
22 Athletic pic.twitter.com/vTwttAWqun
The home fans at the Mestalla threw missiles at Barcelona players, including Leo, as they celebrated the winner. And now, they travel to the Nou Camp; Barcelona's fortress and Messi's kingdom. Will the king revenge against his visitors? Let's wait and see!
Messi reacts to the bottle-throwing incident at the Mestalla last year when Barca visited Valencia. Neymar is on the ground, writhing in pain.
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