Lionel Messi – the opening day specialist

He has done it again, making it 12 in total. The FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi scored two goals in his team's 5-1 win over R. Betis, putting the Argentine on 12 goals on opening days of the season.

Messi first achieved the feat back in the 2006/07 season, when he netted in Barcelona's 3-2 away victory over RC Celta. However, in recent years the player has become a regular feature for the Catalan club on LaLiga Santander opening day scoresheets.

New season, familiar protagonists...

Messi  + assist
Suarez #BarcaRealBetis pic.twitter.com/BWv0fvYDuX

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) August 20, 2016

Since the 2010/11 season, he has only failed to score in his team's first match of the season on one occasion. In 2010/11 he was on cue in the 3-0 away win over R. Racing C., and he upped the ante in the league opener the following season with a brace against Villarreal CF. On the first day of the 2012/13 season he scored two more goals against Real Sociedad, before authoring another double a year later against Levante UD. He went on to repeat the feat yet again on the first day of the 2014/15 season, this time with Elche CF on the receiving end. After failing to find the back of the net in the first game of last season against Athletic Club, Messi has rediscovered his opening day form with two more goals in the drubbing of Betis.

Messi's goals in season openers:

- One goal against Celta in 2006/07 
- One goal against Racing in 2010/11 
- Two goals against Villarreal in 2011/12 
- Two goals against Real Sociedad in 2012/13 
- Two goals against Levante in 2013/14 
- Two goals against Elche in 2014/15 
- Two goals against Betis in 2016/17