Barcelona: Argentina's FIFA World Cup-winning icon Lionel Messi congratulated his former club, FC Barcelona, following their back-to-back La Liga title win, beating arch-rivals Real Madrid 2-0 to seal the title on Sunday night.
Goals in the first half from Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres powered Barcelona to their 29th La Liga title, giving them an unassailable 14-point lead over Real Madrid.
Following Barcelona's title win, Messi, now playing for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS), posted a story on his Instagram, saying, "Campeones! !Visca El Barca!" (Champions, Long Live Barca!)
After a year-long stint with Barcelona B from 2003-04, in which he scored six goals in 22 matches, Messi made his debut for the senior team of the Catalan giants on November 16, 2003, as a 16-year-old.
In his debut game for Barcelona's senior side, Messi came on as a substitute in the 75th minute against FC Porto. Ever since he broke into the national team, he took very little time in rising to the status of a talismanic striker. He went on to play for the Catalan giants for close to two decades, till 2021, making 520 appearances and scoring 474 goals for them
With Barcelona, he won the La Liga, the top domestic football competition in Spain, in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
He won four UEFA Champions League titles with Barcelona in 2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2014-15 seasons.
'La Pulga' also lifted 7 Copa Del Rey trophies with Barcelona in 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons. Among other honours he won with Barcelona are, three FIFA Club World Cups (2009, 2011 and 2015), three UEFA Super Cup titles (2009, 2011 and 2015) and seven Spanish Super Cup titles (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018). He won an incredible 34 titles with the club.
With Barcelona, he also completed two season trebles -- a rare footballing feat of winning three major titles in a single season.
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