Budweiser continues to celebrate Lionel Messi’s record-breaking 644th goal by sending every goalkeeper he ever scored against a personalised bottle of beer.
It was last month that Messi broke Pele’s long-standing record for most goals for a single club, when he scored for Barcelona against Real Valladolid. He’s since gone on to score another two goals against Athletic Bilbao last Wednesday night in a stirring 3-2 victory, and a further two against Granada on Saturday night. Messi is now the first La Liga player to hit double figures in 15 straight seasons.
And the Argentine genius continues to remind the ‘keepers he’s scored against in this 20 years with the Spanish giants, as each of them received a bottle numbered with the corresponding goal on the front of the label.
Gianluigi Buffon was pictured with bottles No 514 and 515 from when Messi scored twice against him in the Champions League back in 2017. Each bottle has the following words inscribed on them, "This feat is made even more extraordinary given they were scored against the best keepers in the world. We know of no other competitors more worthy of celebrating. Kings aren’t made overnight."
The Italian goalkeeper took to Instagram to congratulate Messi for the landmark while he was enjoying his free drinks. Buffon said: '@budfootball... thanks for the beers. I'll take it as a compliment. We have great battles over the years! Congratulations on breaking the 644 record @leomessi... it really is an unbelievable achievement. Cheers!'
Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas is another goalkeeper who received a load of Budweiser bottles, with Messi scoring 17 goals against him down the years in epic El Clasico battles.The recipient of beer No 644 is Valladolid goalkeeper Jordi Masip, a former team-mate of Messi at Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid shot stopper Jan Oblak received 11 bottles from Budweiser. “I never like conceding but the challenge of stopping you brings the best out of goalkeepers too,” said Oblak as he posed with the drink on social media.
“He’s scored a lot of goals, maybe too many. But that’s football. Everyone knows he’s amazing, he’s an idol to many, many people in the world. He is one of the best players in history, not just one of the best players right now.”
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was also snapped with two Budweiser bottles after conceding goals to Messi in both league matches against Barcelona for Athletic Bilbao in the 2017-18 season. In an interview on Instagram he had these words about Messi’s record-breaking achievements, “He’s been at this level for so long, this is something to admire. And I hope we continue enjoying him as a player for many more years. But it’s not easy facing him as a goalkeeper, it’s hard. But we have to congratulate him and say thank you.”
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