Lionel Messi breaks Barcelona's all-time La Liga record against Cadiz

- Lionel Messi has moved a step above Xavi Hernandez's record for most appearances in La Liga

- The 33-year-old played his 506th game in Barcelona colours during their 1-1 draw with Cadiz at the Camp Nou

- Legendary Spanish goalkeeper Adoni Zubizarreta still holds the record for most appearances in La Liga, playing 622 matches

Lionel Messi became the player with the highest appearance in La Blaugrana following Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Cadiz, Twitter.

The Argentine superstar leveled up with former teammate Xavi Hernandez who spent his entire career at the Camp Nou with 505 appearances.

Messi moved up one match above Xavi when he laced his boot for the 506th time for the Catalan giants in La Liga.

In total, Messi has played 761 matches for his boyhood club in his 18th season with Barcelona while Xavi made 767 appearances before leaving in 2015.

Messi just has seven matches to beat Xavi's record before the end of March and cement his iconic status at the club.

However, legendary Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta still holds the record for most appearances in La Liga.

The former Spain international has 622 appearances under his belt across his spells with Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona and Valencia before retiring in 1998.

Messi could either or surpass the feat if he extends his deal at Barca at the end of the summer and retires at the club.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Barcelona would have themselves to blame on Sunday afternoon, February 21, as they allowed 28-year-old midfielder Alex Fernandez to score the equalizer at the death in their 1-1 draw against Cadiz at Camp Nou.

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Koeman's men started the match impressively with the likes of Lionel Messi, De Jong and Dembele firing in all cylinders for the Catalans, but they were unable to score.

Lionel Messi had the chance to open scoring for Barcelona in the 6th minute after getting a brilliant pass from Dembele but his shot was well parried away by goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma.

Akan Anwankwo is a sports editor with Legit.ng and has 7 years of field and office experience. He graduated from the University of Lagos in 2014 with a Bachelors degree in English and Literature Studies. Akan intends to educate, inform and make readers passionate about sports. Learn more about him on his Twitter handle: @ anwankwo_akan