Messianic

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi broke a record from the 1930s on Saturday when he scored for a 17th consecutive La Liga game, a 2-0 victory at home to bottom club Deportivo La Coruna.

The World Player of the Year came off the bench and struck with a deft chip in the 88th minute at the Nou Camp, his 40th league goal of the campaign and his 27th in 17 games.

Barca said Messi overhauled Polish forward Teodor Pewterek who scored 22 goals in 16 straight outings for Ruch Chorzow at the end of the 1930s. “The Argentine player’s tally represents a new record in the history of football, something no other player has achieved before,” the Spanish club said on their website. Messi has 11 matches in which to beat his La Liga record tally of 50 goals from last season.

Messi came off the bench to score the stunning goal stretched Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to 14 points. With an eye on AC Milan’s Champions League visit on Tuesday, Barca left Messi and five Spanish internationals out of the starting lineup at the Nou Camp.

Chile forward Alexis Sanchez put them in front in the 38th minute when Depor goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia could only palm his powerful downward header into the roof of the net. Spain’s record scorer David Villa, still not back to his best after breaking his leg at the end of 2011, had earlier squandered a golden chance and made way for Messi with about half an hour left.

The Argentina forward fluffed one effort five minutes from time but drew gasps from the home crowd in the 88th minute when he exchanged passes with Alexis and dinked a delightful chip over the onrushing Aranzubia into the net. It was Messi’s 51st goal in 41 appearances in all competitions.

Assistant Barca coach Jordi Roura, standing in for Tito Vilanova while he has cancer treatment in New York, said beating Depor was the best way to prepare for the Milan match.

“We played with a lot of intensity and had a lot of presence in their penalty area but they are two completely different competitions,” he said. “The players seem in good shape and we will do everything humanly possible to get past Milan,” he added.

Barca went into the game following three defeats in their last four outings including a 2-0 loss in their Champions League last-16, first leg tie at Milan last month and bitter reverses to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the King’s Cup and La Liga.

Their return to winning ways and a first clean sheet in 14 games puts them on 71 points from 27 of 38 matches.

Stopwatch: Rayo Vallecano 2 (Dominguez 9, Piti 77) bt Espanyol 0
Valladolid 1 (Manucho 41) drew with  Malaga 1 (Demichelis 8)
Barcelona 2 (Sanchez 38, Messi 88) bt Deportivo La Coruna 0
Real Mallorca 2 (Alfaro 16, 66)
bt Sevilla 1 (Negredo 61