Video: Tenth anniversary of Lionel Messi's debut for Barcelona

Lionel Messi makes his Barcelona debut by coming on as a substitute for Deco

On this day in 2004, a 17-year-old teenager by the name of Lionel Messi came onto the pitch in the 82nd minute to play in the senior Barcelona shirt in La Liga for the first time. The Argentine player came on as a second-half substitute for Deco against Espanyol at the old Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and in the process became the third youngest player to ever play for Barcelona and the youngest ever in the La Liga player, though it was later broken by Barcelona’s own Bojan.

In the present, Lionel Messi is a four-time Ballon d’Or holder and a one time Best Player in Europe winner having secured 6 La liga titles, 2 Copa del Reys, 3 UEFA Champions Leagues and 2 Club World Cup titles. Furthermore, he has an Olympic Gold Medal, an U-20 World Cup medal, a FIFA World Cup runner-up medal as well as the World Cup Golden Ball.

Messi is on the brink of becoming the all-time La Liga topscorer with his goals tally just 2 behind Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra. The 27-year old featured in Deco’s testimonial match earlier this year acknowleding the player’s importance in his life.

Some facts from that night when Messi made his debut for Barcelona:

1. 34,400 spectators were present at the Montjuïc for the Catalan derby between Espanyol and FC Barcelona
2. Four reserve players had been called up to the first team by manager Frank Rijkaard to complete the team against Espanyol after injury to four first team players
3. Messi was on the bench with Damià, Rubén (keeper), Cristian Hidalgo, Peña, Iniesta and Fernando Navarro.
4. Messi wore No. 30 on his back when he came in with 8 minutes to go before the end of the match.
5. Deco was the man substituted for the Argentine.
6. 17 years, 3 months and 22 days. This is how old Messi was on that day becoming second-youngest player to ever don the Blaugrana colours for the first team (The record holder is Paulino Alcántara).
7. Valdés, Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta are the only Barcelona players who played that night and continue to play for the first team today.
8. It took Messi 7 and a half months to score his first official goal for the Club. It was on May 1 of 2005, against Albacete at the Camp Nou.
9. Messi playedonly 77 minutes for the first team in the 2004/05 season.