Lionel Messi made history in La Liga with his appearance for Barcelona in their encounter with Girona. The Argentinian made his 423rd league appearance when he was listed among the team to take on Sunday's opponent at the Camp Nou.
Messi subsequently became the only non-Spanish player with the most La Liga appearance having been tied with his former teammate Dani Alves prior to kick-off. The Brazilian fullback racked up 422 appearances in La Liga before moving to Juventus in 2016.
To commemorate the special day, Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 19th minute. The Blaugrana skipper poked home a pass from Arturo Vidal inside the penalty area to grab his fifth goal of the season.
Eighth goal for Lionel Messi this season - set up by @kingarturo23. @GironaFC's resistance is broken, and they trail 1-0 to @FCBarcelona.#LaLiga #BarcaGirona #PureFootball
— Eleven Sports (@ElevenSports_UK) September 23, 2018
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Interestingly, the strike was Messi's 300th in 258 appearances wearing the No. 10 jersey for Barcelona. The forward has also registered 104 assists along the way.