Goalposts for Barcelona scoring record moved forward for Lionel Messi

Screen idle: 'In life Messi is quicker than he is on the TV,' says Coloccini (Getty Images)

Lionel Messi was always going to become Barcelona's all-time top scorer - but today it was made just that little bit easier.

The current holder of the record is Cesar Rodriguez, who played for the Catalans during the 40s and 50s. It was believed he had scored 235 goals, but following a study by Barca's Documentation and Studies Centre and La Vanguardia newspaper to verify the number of official goals, the total has been revised down to 232.

Barcelona released a statement on their official website today to confirm the findings of the study.

It means that Messi, who has 231 goals in his eight seasons at the current Champions League holders, is now just one goal away from equalling the record.

The World Player of the Year has 51 in all competitions this season and could overhaul the record when the La Liga champions play Granada later today.

"After studying all of Cesar's matches, it has been confirmed that Messi is only one goal behind," Barca said.

"It's worth noting that Cesar Rodriguez is the club's all-time top goalscorer in official matches, but the absolute record belongs to Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals in 357 official and friendly matches."

At just 24-years-old, Messi could soon have Alcantara's record in his sights.

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