Following
a boring, disappointing, boring, really really really boring draw in Greece
against Olympiacos in midweek, Barcelona return to action on
Saturday night with what promises to be one of the toughest tests of this young
season for the Blaugrana.
Sevilla come to the Camp Nou for what is a
historically tough fixture for the Catalan giants. Regardless of the coaches or
players they have, the Rojiblancos always
find a way to make every game really difficult for Barça, and this will be no
different.
Frank Rijkaard was the coach who gave Messi his debut, bringing
him on as a second-half substitute against Espanyol in 2004. Messi, then a
teenager, went on to make a total of 110 appearances under Rijkaard.
Pep Guardiola, who had great
success in moving Messi from the right wing into a more central role, used the
Argentina international in 219 games.
Messi's 599 appearances to date have seen 523 goals with his
500th goal coming in stoppage time of a 3-2 win against Real Madrid in April.
Since his debut, the
five-time Ballon d'Or winner has been on the winning side 425 times, tasting
defeat in just 69 games.
He has won 30 trophies while
playing for Barcelona, including eight La Liga titles and four Champions
Leagues.
Lionel Messi will make his 600th appearance for Barcelona
against Sevilla at the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Messi becomes just the third
player to reach the landmark after former teammate Xavi Hernandez and current
captain Andres Iniesta, who have made 767 and 642 appearances respectively.
The top five is completed by
Carles Puyol (593 appearances) and Migeuli (549).
"It's barbaric!"
coach Ernesto Valverde said on Friday when asked to give an assessment of
Messi's milestone. "To reach 600 games with the same club, with all the
goals he's scored, the assists, the brilliance... it's extraordinary.
"You run out of
adjectives to describe his journey. It shows his importance to this club. It's
not just the 600 games -- it's how he's played in those 600 games which show
what Messi means."
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Iniesta,
Rakitic, Messi, Alcacer, Suarez.
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