Spanish club send challenge to Lionel Messi ahead of Copa del Rey meeting

Lionel Messi could retire today and he would still be remembered as arguably the finest football in history.

His free-kick against Olympiakos on Wednesday was his 100th goal in European competition and the achievements don’t end there.

Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer. A record five Ballon d’Or awards. An astonishing 91 goals in a single calendar year.

Arsene Wenger made one of the best quotes about Messi after the Argentinian fired four goals against his Arsenal side in the Champions League in 2010.

"He's like a PlayStation," Wenger sake. “In the biggest games, exceptional players still make the difference.

“Messi is the best player in the world, and by a distance.”

That was seven years ago, when Messi was supposed to still be developing as a 22-year-old.

Yet he had already risen to the top of the game. Remarkable stuff.

One curse that hung over Messi’s head entering the season was his drought against Gianluigi Buffon.

The 30-year-old had failed to score in his previous three encounters with the legendary Italian goalkeeper but he put that hoodoo behind him at the fourth time of asking last month.