Messi scores 500th goal for Barcelona

Lionel Messi scored his 500th Barcelona goal - encompassing official competitions and friendliest - as he masterminded his side’s comeback against Sevilla on Sunday.

Vitolo opened the scoring for the home side after 15 minutes as Jorge Sampaoli`s men started on the front foot at the Sanchez Pizjuan, but Messi’s equaliser just before half-time provided the platform for Barca to turn the game around.

At times playing deeper than usual in the absence of Andres Iniesta, Messi himself could have scored his side’s second before he eventually set up Luis Suarez to seal a 2-1 win.

Messi’s leveller was his 469th goal for the Blaugrana in official games, but the Catalan club have confirmed it`s his 500th if you include friendly games.

He’s already the leading scorer in the history of the Spanish top flight, a milestone he also achieved in a game against Sevilla.

A hat trick in a 5-1 win against the Andalusian side two years ago took him onto 253 goals, surpassing the record of 251 which had been held by Telmo Zarra.

In total, 320 of Messi’s Barcelona goals have come in La Liga and his tally for the season now stands at 16 in all competitions, despite missing several weeks with a groin problem.

Barca’s win over Sevilla sees them go into the international break in second place in the table, two points behind the leaders Real Madrid, who maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 3-0 win over Leganes earlier on Sunday.

Luis Enrique’s side welcome Malaga to Camp Nou on Nov. 19, with a trip to Real Sociedad then followed by the visit of Madrid for the first Clasico of the season on Dec. 3.

Source: ESPN FC