(Video Courtesy: Barcelona Official YouTube Channel)
Lionel Messi made his professional league debut for Barcelona as a 17-year-old, replacing another legend, Ronaldinho in a match against Espanyol. At the time, he was the youngest player ever to represent Barcelona in an official competition.
Messi’s first ever goal for the Catalan giants was a special one. The Argentine superstar came off the bench against Albacete on 1st May, 2005, and lobbed the keeper with a delightful chip and was mobbed by his teammates. That goal had made him the youngest ever goalscorer for Barcelona at the time.
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Everyone at the club knew what a special and unique talent Messi was. He consistently played above his age groups in youth teams and embarrassed first team players in training sessions. Ronaldinho even recognised the gem they had on their hands and took him under his wing, lovingly nicknamed him “little brother” and greatly eased his transition into the first team.
But now, the Blaugrana have released rare footage of his actual first goal for the club; one that took place a year previous to the goal against Albacete.
Messi actually first scored for the club on Tuesday, 20th July, 2004 against Palamos – who are based in the Palamos port city in Spain’s Costa Brava.
Only 17 at the time, his potential was well known and this was reflected in a contract which specified a buyout clause of £70.2million.
Under the tutelage of Frank Rijkaard, Messi developed his game and his goal against Palamos was a personification of everything he has since come to represent in the beautiful game.
He picked up a loose ball, took it forward with his usual nimbleness and deftness of touch, beat 2 defenders easily and slotted it past the keeper with a cool finish.
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His trademark drop of the shoulder and quick change in direction were all in evidence as “La Pulga” wrong footed the keeper from 18 yards.
Further goals from Andres Iniesta, Gerard Lopez, Joan Verdu and Luis Garcia saw the match end 6-0 in favour of Barcelona.
Messi’s first ever goal, however, was the highlight of the match. Unedited and never before seen, it will definitely go down as “vintage Messi”.
Since that debut, he has scored 469 times for the club in just 545 appearances, becoming their highest ever goal-scorer and breaking innumerable records in the process.
With a further 31 goals in other competitions meaning he had reached the 500 goal mark for the Blaugrana, this footage was released to commemorate the landmark achievement by the Argentinian forward.
