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Lionel Messi's cheeky Christmas gift to 160 opponents including several Premier League stars

Lionel Messi made countless records his own during his legendary Barcelona stint, including one that he marked ahead of Christmas with a gift to those who had played their part

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A mischievous Lionel Messi gifted the perfect Christmas present(Image: Getty Images)

Lionel Messi celebrated one of his many milestones with a hilarious Christmas present to many of his former opponents.

The 37-year-old has been a gift to football over the past two decades, delivering memorable moments aplenty. A large majority of those came for Barcelona prior to his emotional 2021 exit.

Mere months before his departure to PSG, Messi celebrated yet another landmark when he netted his 644th goal for the Catalan club. That was significant because it broke Pele's record for Santos of the player with the most goals for a single club.

To mark the moment, he and one of his sponsors, Budweiser, devised a cheeky plan. It involved sending a bottle of beer to the goalkeepers he'd scored past for every single strike.

That totalled 160 shot stoppers, including 13 then-Premier League stars. Manchester United's David de Gea, Tottenham keepers Hugo Lloris and Joe Hart and Liverpool's Alisson all received a couple each. The star with the biggest Christmas booze-up was Diego Alves.

The former Almeria and Valencia goalie received the most of anyone with 21. He was followed by Gorka Iraizoz on 18, Iker Casillas and Andres Fernandez on 17 and Diego Lopez on 14.

The beers arrived just in time for the big day, with Gianluigi Buffon and Jan Oblak taking to social media on Christmas Eve to thank Messi.

Buffon wrote: "Thanks for the beers. Ill take it as a compliment. We have great battles over the years! Congratulations on breaking the 644 record #Messi! it really is an unbelievable achievement. Cheers!"

While Oblak captioned his post: "Congratulations on your great achievement of 644 goals, Leo. I never like conceding but the challenge of stopping you brings the best out of goalkeepers too. Thank you for the special gift."

Messi has continued to smash record after record in the years since, with his career goal tally reaching the 850 mark for club and country. And there'd be plenty more keepers on his Christmas list now after his stay in France and now the United States with Inter Miami.

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