Iniesta and Messi broke Champions League record against Chelsea

Jordan Russell (@JordRuss96)
21 feb 2018

As expected, Ernesto Valverde included both Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi in Barcelona’s starting XI against Chelsea last night. In doing so, he allowed the legendary Blaugrana duo to break a record set by two of their former teammates.

Indeed, as pointed out by online statistician MisterChip, the Spaniard and Argentine both made their 97th appearance in the UEFA Champions League. That puts them ahead of Xavi and Carles Puyol, who played in Europe’s premier club competition 96 times each.

RÉCORD HISTÓRICO - Iniesta y Messi (titulares hoy) ya son la pareja que más partidos de Champions League han jugado juntos (97). Hoy superan a otro binomio histórico del Barça: Xavi-Puyol (jugaron juntos 96 partidos). Los terceros de la lista son Raúl y Roberto Carlos (94). pic.twitter.com/6sggB7TIIN
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) February 20, 2018