La Liga: Barcelona share the spoils at home, as Messi equals Pele’s record
A lot did not go well for Ronald Koeman’s side, who failed to beat mid-table Valencia at Camp Nou on Saturday. They can still hold on to the fact that midfield maestro Lionel Messi equaled Brazil legend Pele’s record of 643 goals for a single club with his first half goal despite missing a penalty early on.
Valencia took the lead thanks to Mouctar Diakhaby’s 29th-minute goal.
The five-time Ballon D’or winner Argentine achieved the feat with a header just at the brink of half-time, immediately after his penalty was saved by keeper Jaume Domenech to bring Barcelona on leveled terms.
Pele, 80, scored 643 goals in 19 seasons for Brazilian side Santos between 1956 and 1974.
Messi scored his first goal for Barca in 2005 against Albacete.
After the break, Ronald Araujo put Barcelona in front in the 52nd minute.
However, it didn’t take long for Valencia to equalize. Thanks to Maxi Gomez’s 69th equalizer, the 26-time champions are on the La Liga log, eight points behind Atletico Madrid, who earlier defeated Elche 3-1 to move to 29 points.
Fierce rivals and champions Real Madrid, five points ahead of Barca, play Eibar on Sunday.
