Lionel Messi equalled Pele’s record of 643 goals for a single club after scoring for Barcelona in a 2-2 draw with Valencia at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Messi netted a milestone goal with a diving header just before half-time – moments after missing a penalty – to cancel out Mouctar Diakhaby’s 29th-minute opener.
Barcelona then went ahead through Ronald Araujo but Maxi Gomez earned Valencia a point.
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Messi went close with several late efforts but Ronald Koeman’s side failed to find a winner and his star player had to settle for matching rather than surpassing Pele’s Santos mark for now.
Barcelona are now fifth in the top-flight table but could yet be overhauled by sixth-placed Sevilla who have two games in hand on the Catalan giants.
Diakhaby capitalised on awful Barcelona defending to head in a corner that put Valencia into an early lead.
The hosts could not force their way back into the contest during a frustrating first half, only to be handed a golden chance to level with a penalty.
But although Messi fluffed his lines he was still able to ride out that blow, quickly converting Jordi Alba’s deflected cross as the ball stayed alive after his missed spot-kick.
Barcelona thought they were on course for victory when Araujo’s acrobatics seized a 2-1 advantage with little more than half an hour to play.
But then up popped Gomez to seal the draw, heaping yet more misery on Barcelona and Koeman.
