Messi surpasses Xavi's Barcelona appearance record

Barcelona's Lionel Messi overtook former player Xavi to set a new club record of 768 appearances in a Barca shirt.

Messi had equalled Xavi's appearance record for Barcelona on March 16 and surpassed the latter's tally on Monday when he stepped out to play against Real Sociedad in La Liga.

On 5 January 2011, Xavi had made his 550th appearance in a Barca shirt, taking Migueli's (549) record before setting a new high of 767 matches.

Xavi had set his record five-and-a-half years ago, in the last of his 17 seasons with the club. Along the way, he won 27 trophies with FC Barcelona, in a club career that began on August 18, 1998.

The 768 games played so far by Messi are divided into a total of six different competitions. La Liga is the competition with the most matches, with Messi playing a total of 511 in the Spsh top flight. As for the Champions League, he has played 149 games, while 79 have come in in the Copa del Rey, 20 in the Spsh Super Cup, five in the Club World Cup and four in the European Super Cup.

During the match, Messi and Sergino Dest scored two goals each to power Barcelona to a sumptuous 6-1 win over Real Sociedad.

( With inputs from ANI )