By Chris Wright
After seeing his target knocked down from 235 goals to 232 following a study by Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia and the city’s Centre of Documentation and Studies into Cesar Rodriguez’s previous claim to Barcelona’s goal-scoring record, Lionel Messi comfortably surpassed the total with a hat-trick against Granada last night, meaning that – aged just 24 – he is now the club’s all-time top scorer in official matches with 234 goals.
Aside from the historical significance, the goals were pretty damn swish to boot – especially the delightful volley that bought about his first goal of the night and draw him up alongside Rodriguez in the goal stakes…
For the record, the game ended 5-3 in Barca’s favour, with Xavi and Tello adding the other two goals for the home side while Diego Mainz and a couple of penalties from Guilherme Siqueira did for Granada.
Messi still has some way to go before he can claim to be Barca’s out-and-out top goal-scorer, with Filipino striker Paulino Alcantara having amassed 369 goals in 357 official and friendly matches between 1912 and 1927.
Should take Messi about a year or so to catch up at this rate.