Minsk: Lionel Messi tied for second on the Barcelona career scoring list, getting a goal in each half on Wednesday night to lead the defending champions to a 5-0 victory at BATE Borisov of Belarus in the European Champions League.
Messi scored in the 38th and 55th minutes to give him 14 goals in 10 games this season and 194 in his career, matching Laszlo Kubala. Just 24, Messi is closing in on Cesar Rodriguez's team record of 235 goals from 1942-55.
At Minsk, Aleksandr Volodko's own goal put Barcelona ahead in the 19th minute, and Pedro Rodriguez doubled the lead three minutes later. David Villa added a goal in the 90th.
Barcelona (1-0-1) lead Group H on goal difference over AC Milan (1-0-1), who beat visiting Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic 2-0 as Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted a penalty kick in the 53rd minute and fed Antonio Cassano for a goal in the 66th.
With his double, Messi joined Laszlo Kubala as Barcelona's second all-time leading scorer with 194 goals.
"I am very happy to have equaled a man who was so important in the history of this club," Messi said. "I knew that I could match Kubala, but I didn't go out tonight thinking about scoring goals, nothing of the sort, just playing like always."
Barcelona took advantage of the hosts' defensive errors to cruise to a comfortable win.
An own goal by BATE midfielder Aleksandr Volodko put Barcelona ahead before Pedro Rodriguez and Messi sent the Spanish giants into half-time with a 3-0 lead.
Messi got his second just after the restart with a cracking strike from inside the area, and David Villa capped the win in the 90th.
The 24-year-old Messi, now in his eighth season, has the chance to surpass Kubala on Sunday at Sporting Gijon in the Spanish league. Kubala played for Barca for a decade from 1951.
Barcelona's topscorer Cesar Rodriguez scored 235 goals from 1942-55. If Messi keeps scoring at the same rate he did last season, he could pass that mark before this campaign is over.
"(Messi) has equaled a legendary player for Barcelona, and he has done it at just 24 years old. I can't say anything more, only congratulate him," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. "The only way that he won't catch Cesar is if he leaves."
"We faced a team that played very far back in defence, and we were lucky enough to score early," Guardiola added. "I didn't expect they would play so defensively. It was one of those games that if you don't score early, you get nervous."
"We've played the best team in the world," BATE coach Viktor Goncharenko said. "We failed to defend strong or attack hard. The game was mostly in our box and we couldn't change this situation. But it was a helpful experience."
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