Barcelona striker has become the club's all-time leading scorer after a hat-trick in their 7-0 victory over tletico Osasuna; prolific forward erases Paulino Alcantara's name from the record books
Lionel Messi
Barcelona: Lionel Messi has become Barcelona's all-time top goalscorer in all games - including friendlies - as he has taken his tally to 371 goals following his hat-trick in Sunday's 7-0 win over Osasuna.
Lionel Messi
The Argentina international already became the top goalscorer in the club's history in official matches two years ago, erasing Cesar Rodriguez from the record books, but Paulino Alcantara's number had stayed out of Messi's reach until this weekend's encounter.
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Alcantara, born in the Philippines, scored 369 goals in 357 games as a Barca player between 1912 and 1927, but the Blaugrana legend has now been overtaken by Messi.
The 26-year-old has been in sublime form in 2013-14, netting 18 goals in 21 La Liga encounters.
The prolific attacker's next objective is becoming the top goalscorer in the history of the Champions League.
That honour is currently in the possession of Real Madrid icon Raul Gonzalez, who has scored 71 goals against Messi's 67.
Alexis Sanchez, Andres Iniesta, Pedro Rodriguez and Cristian Tello also got on the scoresheet. Neymar and Cesc Fabregas were left on the subs' bench.
Failure to win would have left Barcelona 6-7 points behind Real Madrid. But the win means a victory in their rivals' backyard would leave them just one point off the top of the table.
Barcelona started slowly. But once Messi opened the scoring (18th minute), goals continued to arrive at regular intervals. Messi completed his hat-trick two minutes from time.
The win ends a good week for Barcelona who also qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals Wednesday by beating Manchester City 4-1 on aggregate.
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