Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen only behind Lionel Messi as he equals record held by Dani Alves in 4-2 win over Valencia

After his team's 4-2 victory against Valencia, Marc-Andre ter Stegen equalled Dani Alves' mark of 408 outings for Barcelona and is second to only Lionel Messi in one appearance record.

As of now, Messi is the foreigner with most appearances for the Blaugrana after he featured in 778 matches between 2004 and 2021. He is also the Catalan club's all-time record appearance holder, with current boss Xavi Hernandez behind him with 767 total games.

Regarding foreigners who have represented the team, Ter Stegen is currently joint-second with Alves. He had already overtaken Javier Mascherano (338 games) and Ivan Rakitic (310 games) in the all-time list.

Ter Stegen, who left Borussia Monchengladbach for €12 million in 2014, has been Barcelona's first-choice goalkeeper for almost a decade. The 32-year-old has kept 171 clean sheets and conceded 400 goals in 408 matches across competitions for the Catalans so far.

Barcelona, meanwhile, leapfrogged Girona to second place in the 2023-24 La Liga table after their win over Valencia at home this Monday (April 29). After Hugo Duro and Pepelu scored on either side of Fermin Lopez's goal, Robert Lewandowski hit a brilliant hattrick.

The Blaugrana, who won the league title last season, will next take on Girona in a La Liga contest at Estadi Montilivi this Saturday (May 4).

Ex-Barcelona star lauds Lionel Messi, says attacker was not Blaugrana's best captain

Speaking to Micspod, Al-Shabab star Ivan Rakitic claimed that Inter Miami attacker Lionel Messi is the best footballer of all time before opining on his leadership skills. He said (h/t GOAL):

"Messi is the best in history, and if he put his mind to it, he could be the best left-back in the world if he wanted to! Although, he was sometimes not the best captain to tell you what you had to do... that was because he was unique and different."

Rakitic, who played for Barcelona for six years, added (h/t MSN):

"When you work with him day-by-day, you can really tell just how good he is, because how he receives the ball and how he already knows what's going on behind him. His movements, it's so easy. His finishing, he makes it look so easy. It's not like he's even shooting, it's like he's passing it into the goal."

Messi, who was Barcelona's captain between 2018 and 2021, guided the Catalans to 35 trophies. The 36-year-old scored a whopping 672 goals and also laid out 303 assists during his stint at his former team.

Rakitic, on the other hand, has registered a goal and an assist in five games for Al-Shabab since leaving Sevilla on a free earlier in January.