Lionel Messi’s freekick against Valencia on Sunday was his 50th in a Barcelona shirt. He found the net against Jasper Cillessen in the second half at Mestalla.
In doing so, he brought his total freekick tally to 56, with club and country. That’s only three off Diego Maradona’s Argentinian record of 59 career freekicks.
Messi has already surpassed Manuel Pelegrina’s 45 and Daniel Passarella’s 43 in terms of countrymen’s freekick totals.
This weekend, Messi will face the same team which he scored his first freekick against for Barcelona – Atletico Madrid.
The 32-year-old first converted from a deal ball on October 4, 2008, in Barcelona’s 6-1 win over Los Rojiblancos