FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.02.2009 19:18

The 5000th goal for the Museum

Jordi Clos/Roger Bogunyà

Against Racing, Barça made it to 5000 goals in the history of the league championship. Leo Messi was the man to add his name the list of other legendary players that have scored the other landmark goals, namely Marco Aurelio, Zaballa, Quini and Amor.

Barça’s extraordinary goalscoring rate this season (54 goals in 18 league fixtures) has included the chance to celebrate goal 5000 in their Liga history. The 2-1 win on Sunday at the Nuevo Sardinero produced the long-awaited landmark goal, which has come after 2441 in 77 seasons of top flight football

Messi gets both

It was fitting enough that it should be such a talented player as Messi who will be honoured with goal number 5000. It was also the Argentine who got goal 4999, an opportunist strike in which he converted after the ball rebounded back into play off the crossbar That was in the 65th minute and goal 5000 came a quarter of an hour later, when Messi scored another wonderful goal to add to such delights as the ones he has scored against the likes of Madrid and Osasuna this season.

It was a goal to remember, not just for the historic connotations, but also for its beauty. He controlled the ball on his chest, added a dribble, avoided a tackle and slammed it home with his right foot. Unstoppable. “It was a great goal”, said Guardiola after the game.

1000: Marco Aurelio

On October 22, 1950, during the Barça-Lleida match (6-1), Marco Aurelio scored goal 1000 for Barça in the league. After just 30 seconds, the Argentinian latched onto a pass from Seguer, beat a defender and struck home past the keeper. Marco Aurelio Di Pablo was a tireless inside left who donned the Barça colours from 1948 to 1951. He scored 30 goals in 70 games.

2000: Pedro Zaballa

Goal 2000 was scored by Pedro Zaballa in the Barça-Valencia game (4-0) of January 12, 1964. In the 54th minute, the Cantabrian made the most of a poor clearance by the keeper to confidently strike home. Barça had signed the man from Racing Santander in 1961. He scored 58 goals in 229 during his six years at Barça.

3000: Quini

One of the other great goalscorers to have represented the club, Enrique Castro ‘Quini’, scored goal 3000 on January 24, 1982. It came in the 59th minute of a game with Castellón at the Camp Nou (4-3), when the Asturian Wizard scored following a terrific through ball from Landaburu. Quini was a veritable predator of the area, and was the only Barça player ever to finish as top goalscorer twice, in 1980 and 1984.

4000: Amor

Goal 4000 was the work of a product of the youth system. It was March 9, 1996, when Guillermo Amor scored Barça’s only goal in a disappointing visit to Mestalla (4-1). The man from Benidorm made it 3-1 in minute 69, converting an exquisite cross from the left by Roger García. Amor has always been one of the finest players the Barça youth system ever produced, and has played the third highest number of games for the club (550), only topped by Migueli and Rexach.