Lionel Messi changed his Spanish address in 2021. Two seasons later, he crossed the borders of Europe. However, one record he set for Barcelona remained intact until now. Which was broken yesterday by Atletico Madrid’s French star Antoine Griezmann. He now holds the record for playing the most matches in La Liga as a foreign footballer.
Atletico faced Espanyol in a La Liga match yesterday (Saturday). Where Diego Simeone brought star midfielder Griezmann into the starting eleven. And through this, the 34-year-old star played his 521st match in Spain’s top club competition. Before this match, Griezmann and Messi had a joint record of playing the most matches in La Liga with 520. Yesterday, the former French star surpassed the Argentine captain.
After Griezmann and Messi, the next foreign footballers in the record of playing the most matches in La Liga are Brazil’s Donato Gama (466), France’s Karim Benzema (439), Croatia’s Ivan Rakitic (438) and Brazil’s Dani Alves (436). Of these, although Donato Gama was born in Brazil, he later received a Spanish passport and was called up to the national team.
Meanwhile, Griezmann’s team Atletico failed to win the match to complete his milestone. They drew 1-1 with Espanyol, which further widened Atletico’s gap with the top two teams in La Liga. Barcelona is at the top of the table with 63 points from 28 matches. Real Madrid has 63 points and Atletico has 57 points, having played one more match.
Griezmann has played for several teams in La Liga. Of these, he has played the most matches for Atletico, 306. In addition, he has played 141 matches for Real Sociedad and 74 matches for Barcelona in Spain’s top competition. However, in recent years, there have been rumors that Griezmann will join Messi-Suarez in the American Major League Soccer (MLS). As a result, it is likely that his future at Atletico will not be long!
