Barcelona v Levante: Messi prepares for landmark appearance

Barcelona look to keep up the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid with victory over Levante in Lionel Messi’s 300th league appearance.

Barcelona will look to crown Lionel Messi’s 300th Liga appearance with victory when they welcome Levante to Camp Nou on Sunday.

The superstar forward has scored 266 Liga goals since making his debut in 2004 – a record figure in the Spanish top flight.

Messi has been in sublime form even by his own high standards recently, scoring 11 goals in 10 appearances in all competitions in 2015.

Collectively, Barca have also hit their stride, posting 10 consecutive wins since losing 1-0 at Real Sociedad on January 4. 

It appears that rumoured differences between Messi and coach Luis Enrique are in the past, and defender Gerard Pique has hailed the four-time Ballon d’Or winner as a leader in the Barca dressing room. 

“Luis Enrique obviously calls the shots more than [Lionel] Messi,” Pique told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.

“He’s the coach, the boss, but Leo has a lot of authority in the dressing room.

“There’s no dressing rooms in which there aren’t any disagreements. Luis Enrique and Messi had a spat, but it’s now in the past and there’s no getting around it.

“His relationship with Luis Enrique has always been good and cordial.”

Barca now sit just a point behind Real Madrid at the top of the table, after they destroyed Athletic Bilbao 5-2 and their arch-rivals lost 4-0 at champions Atletico Madrid last week.

It appears inevitable that Barca will post an 11th straight victory in all competitions this weekend, too.

Four of their last five meetings with Levante have ended in wins, with Barca scoring 22 goals across those fixtures – including a 5-0 away win in September.

However, Levante should at least be in high spirits heading to Camp Nou, having beaten Malaga 4-1 last weekend.

That result ended a run of nine Liga games without a victory, though, and they remain mired in a relegation dogfight.