Barcelona's new No.10 Ansu Fati surpasses Lionel Messi to set new record

Barcelona’s teenage sensation Ansu Fati has overtaken legendary footballer Lionel Messi by becoming the club’s player with the most number of goals before the age of 19. Fati scored Barcelona’s opening goal in their La Liga 2021-22 clash against Valencia, as Barcelona went on to win the match 3-1 at the Camp Nou. Fati was handed the iconic No. 10 jersey of Barcelona after Messi joined the French outfit Paris Saint-Germain(PSG) during the summer transfer window, earlier this year. Messi donned the No. 10 jersey for the maximum time of his 21-year long career at the Camp Nou. 

Fati now has 13 La Liga strikes to his name before the age of 19 and is followed by Bojan Krkic who had scored 12 goals. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi had a total of seven goals to his name in the La Liga before he turned 19. Fati managed to score seven goals for the club in his debut season 2019-20, before scoring four goals in seven matches in the 2020-21 season. He missed the majority of the last season due to an injury. Fati has scored 15 goals in total for Barcelona, which is seven more than Messi’s eight goals at the same age as Fati. 

We’ve always said we need players like him: Ronald Koeman

In the Barcelona vs Valencia match on October 18, Fari made his first start for the team after a long injury hiatus and opened the scoresheet for Barcelona, as the club ended its losing streak by defeating Valencia 3-1 at the end of the match. Earlier, Jose Gaya scored the first goal of the match and handed Valencia the lead in the 5th minute. However, following Fati’s goal, Memphis Depay scored a goal through a penalty shot at the 41st minute, before Philippe Coutinho took the score to 3-1 at the 85th minute.

After the much-deserved win, Fati was praised by Barcelona manager Ronal Koeman for making a stunning comeback following his two-match suspension after getting a red card. News agency AP quoted Koeman as saying, “We’ve always said we need players like him. It was his first start and it was already decided with the doctors that he would only play for about an hour. We don’t want to overwork him in such an important week for us”. Fati was taken off the field at the 60th minute by Koeman as Coutinho was brought in place of him. He will make his next La Liga appearance during the El Classico match, which is scheduled to be played on October 24.

(With inputs from AP, Image: AP)