Lionel Messi has netted 21 free-kick goals in past five seasons, most in Europe

Barcelona legend Lionel Messi appears to have regained his top form ever since the start of the current calendar year. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner had a slower start to the current campaign but is now back in his usual groove. The Argentina international scored once against Athletic Club Bilbao to bring his 650th club career goal, striking a sensational freekick to avenge the Spanish Super Cup final loss. He leads the charts of most freekicks over the past five seasons. 

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Messi has most freekick goals in Europe over past five seasons 

Messi struck a splendid freekick in the 20th minute from 25 yards to bag the opener for Barcelona. The Blaugrana forward put the ball in the right top corner to beat goalkeeper Unai Simon as well as Dani Garcia, who was positioned well by the goal post. The goal saw Messi take his tally to 650 strikes for Barcelona. 

With the set-piece, Messi added another impressive record to his name. Messi has been one of the fiercest players when up for a freekick. This claim could be well corroborated from the fact that the 33-year-old has 21 free-kick goals in Europe's top five leagues, the most over the past five seasons. He is distantly followed by Inter Milan star Alexander Kolarov with eight free-kicks during the same period as Messi. 

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Barcelona vs Athletic Club: Griezmann bags winner after Messi's 650th goal

Seemingly, the recent leak of Messi's Barcelona contract did not appear to take a toll on the club legend. Though, Messi is reported to initiate legal action against the news publication that leaked the said contract. Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann put his side in the lead again after an own goal from Jordi Alba cancelled Messi's opener. 

Interestingly, Barcelona had lost out to the same side in the final of the Spanish Super Cup a couple of weeks ago. But Marc-Andre ter Stegen faced little to no complexities while guarding the post throughout the course of the game during the clash on Sunday. 

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LaLiga standings: Barcelona overtake Real Madrid 

Following the victory against Athletic Club, Barcelona overtake Real Madrid in LaLiga standings, albeit with same points as their El Clasico rivals. The Camp Nou outfit have racked up five successive victories in the competition but still, trail by a massive 10 points to Atletico Madrid. Interestingly, Diego Simeone's men have a game's advantage over Barcelona.

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Image courtesy: Barcelona Twitter