The Argentine international broke the record of his former teammate when he created Ansu Fati for the first match against Deportivo Alaves.
Lionel Messi has set a new record for most assists in La Liga in a single season, beating former Barcelona teammate Xavi in the process.
The Barcelona striker played the ball into the box for 17-year-old winger Ansu Fati to hit the opening goal against Deportivo Alavés on Sunday.
Attendance was Messi’s number 21 in the league this period, breaking the record that his former teammate Xavi set in 2008-09.
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Messi matched Xavi’s figure in last week’s 1-0 victory against Real Valladolid, when he became the first player in the Spanish top flight to record 20 goals and 20 assists in a single campaign.
Just 10 minutes after setting up Fati, Messi scored his own goal when he stumbled on a pass from Riqui Puig before hitting Alavés goalkeeper Roberto to double the Catalan team’s lead.
The Argentine international struck again in the second half when his team went 5-0, bringing their account to 25 league goals this season, extending their lead over Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema to five goals.
Messi then claimed the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to the league’s top scorer, for the seventh time in his career when the France international was unable to make up the difference in Madrid’s last game of the season at Leganes on Sunday.
Lionel Messi has finished as La Liga’s top scorer, winning a seventh record Pichichi trophy 🐐 pic.twitter.com/zwvPhpwj1p
– Goal (@goal) July 19, 2020
Barcelona extended their lead against Alavés to 3-0 when Luis Suárez hit just before the break and Nelson Semedo added another 12 minutes in the second half.
Quique Setien’s team had already been confirmed as runner-up as they lost 2-1 to Osasuna at home on Thursday, while Madrid sealed the league title on Thursday with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal to take seven points ahead of their fierce rivals.
After Sunday’s match, Barça will focus on the Champions League campaign before their return in August.
The Camp Nou team will face Napoli on August 8 in the second leg of its last 16 draws, having tied 1-1 in the first leg in February before competition was suspended due to the coronavirus.
And Messi warned midweek that his team must intensify its game to be able to reach the quarterfinals to face Chelsea or Bayern Munich.
“We have to be self-critical,” he said after the match against Osasuna.
“Starting with the players but making a global self-criticism. We are Barça and we have to win everything.”
“We cannot look at Madrid … Madrid has done its job, but we have helped them a lot.”
“If we want to win the Champions League, we have to change a lot. If we continue like this, we will lose the match against Napoli.”
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