Lionel Messi reaches another career milestone after inspiring Barcelona to emphatic 5-1 victory over Alaves

- Lionel Messi further writes his name in gold for Barcelona

- The forward equals Xavi's 505 La Liga games for the Catalans in Alaves win

- The Argentine also scored a brace to increase his tally for the season to 15 goals so far

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Lionel Messi scored twice for Barcelona in their 5-1 emphatic win over Deportivo Alaves to increase his league tally for the season to 15 goals and five assists so far this season.

The 33-year-old is now chasing former strike-partner Luis Suarez who has 16 already for the golden boot at the end of the season.

However, the highlight of the game was the si-time Ballon d'Or winner reaching another major milestone in his career.

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The four-time Champions League winner equalled the former captain Xavi Hernandes' 505 La Liga games after featuring in the game.

And he will definitely set a new record if he plays against Cadiz on February 21 in their next league assignment.

According to Daily Mail, Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets sits fourth in the list with 399 appearances, behind Andres Iniesta, while Gerard Pique also features in the top ten.

The publication added that 41-year-old also holds the record for most Barcelona appearances across all competitions with 767, a figure which Messi is now just eight games short of himself.

Meanwhile, his brace against Alaves took his goals to 653 for Barca in all competitions since he came off the bench to make his debut in October 2004.

Francisco Trinicao also grabbed a brace while Junior Firpo sealed the win for Ronald Koeman's men who are still nin points behind Atletico while on the same points with Real Madrid.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has emerged as the biggest taxpayer in the last four years in Spain.

The 33-year-old Argentine was said to have paid a staggering £324 million during the period under review as shown in his leaked contract.

Messi signed a mega-deal worth a staggering £492 million in 2017 - the deal regarded as the biggest sporting contract in history. The deal will expire this summer.

Oluwatomiwa is a sports editor with Legit.ng. He has over eight years of field and office experience in the media industry. He graduated from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in 2014 with HND in Mass Communication. Connect with him on Twitter @TomiwaBabalola.