Lionel Messi breaks records better than anyone else. He’s been doing exactly that since the beginning his career, but there’s one unwanted record that he’ll want to get off his back this coming weekend.
Barcelona and Messi take on Real Madrid in 2020/21’s first Clasico this Saturday, and the No.10 comes into the game in search of his first goal against them since May 6, 2018, not managing to find the net against the Catalans’ most bitter rivals since Cristiano Ronaldo departed from the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Nine hundred days have passed and Messi hasn’t managed to score against Real Madrid. He’s played in five of the six Clasicos since then, but has 440 minutes have passed without him finding the net.
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It’s probably not good news for Real Madrid though, as Messi will come into Saturday’s game with a hunger to put that record behind him. The Argentine wants revenge, and El Clasico is the best game for him to get it.
Messi’s performances have been gradually improving this season and he delivered his best in the Champions League on Tuesday, which isn’t what Real Madrid would have wanted to see.
In the four games before facing Ferencvaros, he had only scored once. The Hungarians, though, were treated to converted penalty from Messi and an excellent performance that helped Barcelona score five times at the Camp Nou.
Both of his goals this season have come from the penalty spot, and he’ll be looking for his first from open play against the champions.
There is added motivation for the Argentine as it could prove to be his final Clasico at the Camp Nou after his failure to force an exit over the summer, but he might well be on his way out at the end of the season, though that will all depend on the club’s next president.
Real Madrid arrive in Catalonia in a vulnerable position off the back of two straight defeats. Three would start a crisis and Messi knows how to hurt them.
