Messi plays 750th game for Barca, Suarez leads Atl tico win
Barcelona: Lionel Messi set up Frenkie de Jong for a goal to help earn a 1-0 win at Huesca in the Argentine great’s 750th overall appearance for Barcelona and his 500th in the Spanish league. The 33-year-old Messi trails only Xavi Hernández as the Barcelona player with the most games played. Xavi played 767 games in all competitions, including 505 la Liga matches.
Messi’s latest milestone came less than two weeks after he surpassed Pele’s all-time club scoring record for Santos by netting his 644th goal for Barcelona.
Barcelona dominated last-place Huesca but could only manage De Jong’s goal in the 27th minute. Messi lobbed a pass forward to meet De Jong’s run behind the defense, with the Netherlands midfielder steering the ball inside the upright.
Huesca goalkeeper Álvaro Fernandez saved Messi’s two chances, preventing him from adding to his league record of 451 goals. He blocked a free kick just before halftime and smothered shot from close range in the 68th.
Barcelona’s win came after Messi sat out a 1-1 draw with Eibar last round to recover from an ankle problem.
The victory moved Barcelona ahead of Sevilla into fifth place.
Ronald Koeman’s team is 10 points behind leader Atlético Madrid, which got a late goal from Luis Suárez to win 2-1 at Alavés.
