Baku-APA. Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi became the all-time top goalscorer in the Spanish La Liga on Saturday, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.
Messi raised his number of goals scored to 253 after a hat trick against Sevilla.
In doing so, he set a new all-time record.
The record formerly belonged to Athletic Bilbao's Telmo Zarra, who retired from football in the 1954-55 season.
Zarra scored 251 goals in 277 matches over 15 seasons, while Messi broke the 60-year-old record in 289 matches over 11 seasons.
Barcacelona eased past Sevilla 5-1 in the Spanish league's 12th week match.
After the final whistle at the Camp Nou, Barcelona's home ground, 27-year-old Messi saluted the thousands of Barcelona fans who were cheering him.
Messi is the only active footballer in La Liga's list of top ten all-time goalscorers.
The list is as follows:
| Footballer | Goals |
| Messi | 253 |
| Zarra | 251 |
| Hugo Sanchez | 234 |
| Raul | 228 |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | 227 |
| Cesar | 226 |
| Quini | 219 |
| Pahino | 211 |
| Mundo | 195 |
| Santillana | 186 |