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What's the story?
In a constant pendulous race for records, Barcelona ace Lionel Messi has joined Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo in an elite group of players who have half a century of La Liga penalties in their careers.
In case you didn't know...
Barcelona hosted Valencia in a thrilling game at the Camp Nou on Saturday night. With Atletico Madrid following close behind in league points, the Catalan giants went into the game with the hopes of securing a crucial three points.
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An impressive Valencia side, however, did not make it easy for the Blaugrana as the defending league champions went down two goals in the first half after Kevin Gameiro and Daniel Parejo struck home for the visitors.
However, Barcelona captain Messi emerged as the hero once again as he rescued a point with one precise penalty spot-kicks in the second half.
The Argentine ace also suffered an injury to his right thigh but it is expected to be minor and he is likely to feature in Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Real Madrid.
Speaking of the knock, Barca boss Ernesto Valverde said, "[Messi] has a small problem. I don't know exactly what he has."
"We will have to wait to see what medical staff say. If he's in good shape, he'll play on Wednesday [against Madrid]."
The heart of the matter
Messi's penalty against Valencia now makes him only the third player to score fifty penalties in the Spanish top flight.
The 31-year-old is only second to former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo (61 goals) and Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez (56 goals).
The goals also mean that Messi has extended his lead at the top of the Liga goal-scoring charts with 21 successful efforts to his name.
What's next?
As the table-toppers were only able to rescue a point over the weekend, Atletico Madrid will hope to close the gap with them to three points when they face Real Betis later tonight.
