The two clubs Lionel Messi never scored against in La Liga
Lionel Messi is the top scorer in La Liga history with 474 goals but there are two clubs who he never managed to score against in the competition.
The Barcelona legend played against 40 different clubs during his stint in La Liga and he managed to score at least one goal against 38 of them.
We’ve taken a closer look at the two La Liga clubs that Messi faced and never managed to score against.
Xerez CD
These days you’ll find Xerez CD competing in the fourth tier of Spanish football but back in 2009–10, they were playing in the top flight.
Their stint in La Liga was short as they finished the 2009-10 season at the bottom of the league, with a measly 34 points to their name.
Barcelona did the double over them that season, although Messi didn’t find the back of the net in either of the fixtures.
In fairness to Messi, he came on as a second-half substitute in both of Barcelona’s matches against Xerez and both games seemed like routine wins for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The Argentine forward did assist Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the away fixture against them, but he couldn’t get on the scoresheet himself.
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Murcia
Messi has only faced Murcia in La Liga on one occasion, which was back in 2008. The game happened to be the final fixture of the 2007-08 campaign and was Frank Rijkaard’s final game in charge of Barcelona.
While Messi didn’t get on the scoresheet, he grabbed plenty of the headlines as he produced two assists in Barcelona’s 5-3 away win.
The 2007-08 campaign was ultimately a season to forget for Barcelona though as the club finished third in La Liga and they lost in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and Champions League.
Despite Rijkaard’s final season at Barcelona not going to plan, Messi has always been quick to praise the Dutchman for the impact he had on his career.
“The truth is that all the coaches I had since I arrived in the Primera Division taught me something,” Messi told GOAL in 2016.
“But I think the most important in my career was Rijkaard. If he hadn’t trusted in me and not decided to put me in the first team first to train and then play my first match, maybe I wouldn’t have made it to the first team.
“I always said that he was for me a very important person, because he trusted in me, put me in at the right time, picked me to play for the first team and that was very important for me.”