Lionel Messi equaled Brazil legend Pele’s record of 643 goals for a single club after scoring in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw against Valencia on Saturday.
The Argentine reached the landmark with a diving header, following up after his initial penalty had been saved by goalkeeper Jaume Domenech.
Pele, widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, scored 643 goals for Brazilian club Santos between 1956 and 1974.
Messi’s 643rd career goal for Barcelona since his 2004 debut matched Pelé’s 1957-74 tally for Santos.
Messi is Barcelona’s and the Spanish league’s all-time leading scorer.
In January 2018, he became the most prolific scorer among Europe’s top leagues when he reached 366 league goals, surpassing Gerd Müller’s Bundesliga mark of 365.
Messi had already surpassed Müller’s single-year goal mark by scoring 86 times in 2012.
Pelé congratulated the Argentina forward on social media:
“Like you, I know what it’s like to love wearing the same shirt every day. Like you, I know that there is nothing better than the place we feel at home,” he said.
“Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel”.
“But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at Barcelona. Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately will be increasingly rare in football”.
Pelé’s comments went right to the heart of Messi’s uncertain situation at Barcelona.
Messi has yet to recant on his announcement last summer that he wanted to leave the club, which is no longer the dominant force that he had done so much to forge over the past two decades.
His contract expires in June, and he will be free to negotiate with other clubs come January.
The latest setback by Barcelona left Ronald Koeman’s team in fifth place and eight points adrift of league leader Atlético Madrid, which got two goals by Luis Suárez to beat Elche 3-1.
However, Messi’s celebrations were dampened by Maxi Gomez’s 69th minute equalizer for Valencia.
The draw extends Barcelona’s sluggish start to the season, which has seen the team win just six of its opening 13 matches and fall eight points behind La Liga leader Atletico Madrid.