Messi Nets 300th and 301st La Liga Goals

Argentine goal-machine Lionel Messi became the first player in La Liga history to reach the 300 goal mark on Wednesday night as the frontman continues to make headlines.

Messi was already the division’s all time top scorer by some distance and he reached the landmark with his first goal of the evening with his typical deft touches. Thirty yards from goal the diminutive forward looked as though he was about to thread a ball to teammate Luis Suarez before making a run behind Sporting Gijon’s flagging defense, taking a touch to side and slotting the ball in the bottom-left corner.

Six minutes later Messi netted his 301st goal and Barcelona's 10,000th in the process. The strike also cancelled out Sporting Gijon’s equalizer four minutes before. Furthermore, his brace means he is 55 La Liga goals ahead of Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Table-toppers Barcelona went on to win the game 3-1 extending the gap between them and the second placed Atletico Madrid to six points.

To give a break down of his La Liga strikes, Messi has netted 240 times with his preferred left-foot, 48 with his right and 12 with his head. The forward is also said to have scored with his hand after he pushed in a cross during a 2007 clash against Espanyol — a moment Diego Maradona would have been proud of.

Eighty-three of those goals were notched between the 76th and 90th minute which outlines his endeavor and refusal to give up.

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The 28 year-old's latest goals also mean he has scored 4.39 percent of Barcelona's goals in its 117-year history in a mind boggling statistic.

The figures suggest that one of every 20 Barcelona strikes have come from the Rosario-born striker.

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Messi was in the headlines Sunday evening after he played a penalty forward for Luis Suarez to latch onto and slot home. Many deem the audacious move to have been disrespectful to opponents Celta Vigo who the Catalan team thumped 6-1.

Before training today, players gave ovation to Messi on reaching 301 goals in La Liga. pic.twitter.com/ayo0WiBwPg

— Barca Galaxy (@barcagalaxy) February 18, 2016