Exactly 16 years since Messi's first goal!

Leo Messi's career is full of success and personal achievements since he broke into the Barca first team in the 2004-05 season. 

He had made his first appearance for Barcelona on 16th November 2003 in a friendly against Jose Mourinho's Porto. Barca were playing in cream and Messi did little in a 2-0 loss.

His debut in a competitive fixture came almost a year later. On 16th October 2004, Messi made his first professional appearance and it was in the big derby with Espanyol.

We had to wait a bit longer for his first goal. That game on 1st May 2005 against Albacete in a goal which saw him performly excellently despite being on the pitch for just a few minutes. He had a goal disallowed before he actually scored.

His first goal saw Messi receive a looping pass from Ronaldinho, goalkeeper Valbuena came out and Messi chipped it over him into the net. That was the first of his 668 goals so far in 774 Barcelona appearances. He has also given 262 assists.

It is unbelievable to think that it has been 16 years since his first goal. He was just a teenager who had come through the academy and few thought he would become one of the best players in history.