Saturday Levante vs Real Madrid 4pm Athletic vs Celta de Vigo 6pm Barcelona vs Eibar 8pm Córdoba vs Málaga 10pm Sunday Atlético vs Espanyol 12pm Deportivo vs Valencia CF 5pm Elche vs Sevilla 7pm Villarreal vs Almería 9pm Monday Sociedad vs Getafe 8:45pm MADRID - Lionel Messi will have another chance to match or surpass Telmo Zarra’s six-decade-old La Liga scoring record of 251 goals when Barcelona host promoted Eibar on Saturday. The Argentina captain and four-times World Player of the Year has netted 249 times in the Spanish top flight since he played his first match exactly 10 years ago on a Thursday aged 17. Messi’s goals – he has 361 overall in 434 official games – have helped the Catalan club win 21 trophies during the past decade, including six La Liga titles and three Champions League crowns. Widely considered one of the best players in soccer history, the 27-year-old has been showered with praises in the run up to the anniversary although his father Jorge insists his son is unaffected either by acclaim or criticism. “There are times when there is too much praise and other moments when the criticism is excessive,” Jorge Messi said in an interview with Spanish radio on Thursday. If Messi fails to equal or overtake Zarra’s mark on Saturday, his next chance will be in the La Liga ‘Clasico’ at Real Madrid a week later. The match falls the day after Luis Suarez’s ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup expires and the Uruguay forward could make his official Barca debut at the Bernabeu. Solid start Barca are looking to bounce back this season after missing out on major silverware last season for the first time in six years. They have made a solid start under new coach Luis Enrique and are two points clear of Valencia at the top of the standings after seven matches. Messi has six goals in those seven outings and it is a measure of how high he has set the bar in recent years that his tally this term is considered a meagre one by his standards. Cristiano Ronaldo, who ended Messi’s four-year reign as World Player by winning the latest award, has a jaw-dropping 13 goals in six La Liga appearances for Real and will be gunning for more when they visit Levante on Saturday.
