Ten days before the Copa America kicks off, Messi is obviously keen to win the trophy for his country, Argentina, who are hosting the tournament. It would be his first international title since the Under 20 World Cup and the Beijing Olympics. But it has been a marathon season for him, having already clocked up 62 appearances. 55 of these were for Barça and 7 for Argentina, including last night’s friendly with Albania. Messi only has to play in the three group stage matches in the Copa America to beat his personal record of 62 matches in one season.

More than ever under Guardiola

Messi appeared in 55 of the 62 Barça matches this season. He always wants to play and he’s getting his wish this year. It was in the 2009/10 season that he played 64 matches, 53 for FC Barcelona, and in the treble winning year he played 60 matches, 51 for Barcelona.

More and more

He made his club debut under Frank Rijkaard in the 2004/05 season and has been a regular feature of the first team ever since. In 2005/06 he played 35 club and international fixtures, and then in 2006/07 that figure rose to 46 and by 2007/08 he was up to 50 games.