Lionel Messi’s Superb Free-Kick Breaks Barcelona Record 1

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi scored a free kick from an almost impossible angle as his side put three past Athletic Bilbao on Saturday afternoon.

The little magician netted what is already his fourth free kick of 2017 by whipping his shot, taken from the right wing, towards the near post. It caught goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz by surprise and the Spaniard could do little as the ball flew straight past him and into the net.

You can watch Messi’s tight finish in the video below.


A 3-0 victory was not the only thing that the Argentine was celebrating at full time. Messi now holds another Barcelona record thanks to his well-struck free kick as he has now scored 27 times directly from set pieces and has overtaken Ronald Koeman who previously held the club’s record with 26.

It’s another personal achievement for the forward, who is helping to drive his side up the table. Barcelona are now just one point behind Real Madrid in La Liga, although their great rivals have two games in hand.

Madrid’s match against Celta Vigo, which was supposed to be played on Sunday evening, has been postponed due to the weather conditions in Vigo. Strong winds and heavy rain caused damage to Celta’s Balaidos Stadium, meaning the league leaders won’t have a chance to increase the gap at the top back to four points.

Barcelona made a statement against Bilbao, winning comfortably at the Camp Nou. Paco Alcacer made the most of a rare start, scoring his first La Liga goal after 18 minutes. Messi added a second with his free kick, before Aleix Vidal sealed the win, beating a number of defenders before finishing past Iraizoz.

Even with the home side resting Luis Suarez, they were still too much for Bilbao to handle. Barcelona next face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Copa del Ray semi-final on Tuesday. They have a 2-1 lead going into the second game, as well as home advantage.

The winner of that tie will face either Celta Vigo or Alaves in the final of the competition in May. Barcelona are the current holders, while Celta shocked Real Madrid by knocking them out over two legs in the quarter-final last month to reach the last four. Zinedine Zidane’s side would have been hungry for revenge this weekend, but will now have to wait a while longer.

After looking quite far off the mark earlier this season, Barcelona now find themselves challenging on two domestic fronts heading into the final few months of the campaign, as well as being involved in the last 16 of the Champions League.