Messi equals Samitier and now only trails Alcántara

Leo Messi is still on unstoppable course to become the highest goalscorer FC Barcelona has ever had. His goal at San Mamés was number 333 in his personal account. That is the same figure achieved by Josep Samitier in all games for Barça, placing Messi joint second and only bettered by the legendary Paulino Alcántara (369).

Born in the Philippines in 1896, Alcántara played for Barça from 1912 to 1927. Known as the ‘net-breaker’, in those pre-Liga days he scored most of his goals in friendlies, the Copa Catalunya and the Spanish Cup.

Messi’s record

25 year old Leo Messi is already the club’s top scorer if only counting official matches. Of course, Messi belongs to a very different era to Alcántara, in which exhibition and challenge matches are a rarity outside of the preseason, and only 22 of his 333 goals have been scored in friendlies. The Argentinian is the only currently active player to be among the top ten FCB scorers of all time. In fact, Xavi, the next currently active player on the list, is way down in 48^th with 90 goals.

These are Barça’s all-time top ten goalscorers in both friendlies and official competitions: