Ex-Premier League striker, aged 37, surpasses Lionel Messi to equal incredible La Liga record
Former Middlesbrough striker Cristhian Stuani has gone past Lionel Messi to equal the La Liga record for most goals off the bench. The 37-year-old achieved the landmark on Saturday in Girona's 4-1 home defeat to Barcelona.
Hansi Flick's side dominated proceedings at the Estadi Montilivi, with the 17-year-old Lamine Yamal opening the scoring at the half-hour mark before adding a second seven minutes later.
New signing Dani Olmo made it three goals to the good for the visitiors two minutes into the second period before Pedri's 64th-minute strike put the result beyond doubt.
Stuani bagged his landmark strike in the 80th minute, equalling former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona man Julio Salinas' record of 28 La Liga goals off the bench. While Messi is the all-time La Liga top scorer with 474 goals, most of them - 447 - came as a starter, all with the Blaugrana.
Stuani arrived at Boro in the summer of 2015 and scored seven goals in the Championship to lead his side to the Premier League. He scored four times in 23 games in the Premier League before joining his current side Girona in the summer of 2017.
The 50-times capped Uruguay man has also scored eight times for his national side and featured for them at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups. His aforementioned strike against Barca was his 132nd for Girona in 251 games across competitions.
Stuani is now on the cusp of another landmark - becoming the second oldest outfield player to feature in the UEFA Champions League - when he takes the field for competition debutants Girona against PSG on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi sets milestone on return from injury
Lionel Messi made his much awaited return from a two-month injury layoff in Inter Miami's 3-1 MLS home win over Philadelphia Union at the weekend. The 37-year-old was out of action since injuring his ankle in Argentina's 1-0 extra-time win over Colombia in the 2024 Copa America final in Miami in July.
Since then, he missed eight games across competitions for the Herons but marked a memorable return to action. Messi scored twice and set up his former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez to reach 15 goals and as many assists in MLS, becoming the quickest player (19 games) to achieve the landmark.
Most of those goal contributions - 14 goals and 10 assists in 13 games - have come this season, with Tata Martino's play-off-bound Herons opening up a 10-point lead atop the Eastern Conference.