Barcelona vs Girona tonight: Another record for Messi

In October 2004, Frank Rijkaard decided to make a change as Barcelona were ahead against Espanyol and brought on a young Lionel Messi.

At that moment, a LaLiga Santander legend was born.

Now, 422 games later and with an infinite number of broken records to his name, Messi will add another to his list and become the foreign player with the most appearances in LaLiga Santander when Barcelona face Girona.

With 15 seasons under his belt already, he has 320 wins, 66 draws and just 37 defeats.

In that time he has scored 386 goals to become the top scorer in the division's history.

The Argentine will claim top spot ahead of Dani Alves, who had the record until now.

However, there is an unusual case also worth mentioning and that is Donato who played 466 matches in Spain's top flight, but he became nationalised and then appeared for Spain, ruling out his foreign identity.

It's different for Messi who, although he holds duel citizenship, plays for Argentina.

A derby to take the record

To break the record against another Catalan side is special, given his first appearance came against city rivals Espanyol.

Girona don't have good memories of Messi though, as he scored twice in a 6-2 thrashing last season.

This year, with a new coach, they will do their all to get something out of the game, and Ernesto Valverde's hand may be forced.

With Barcelona playing three times in six days, rotation is likely to be an option.

Girona on a roll

With six of the last six points taken, Girona are in great form.

They will do their all to continue that run against the champions and Eusebio Sacristan wants his players to be courageous at the Camp Nou.

Johan Mojica and Planas are the only players Eusebio is without through injury and captain Alex Granell is as keen as his coach to take something from Barcelona.