Lionel Messi Will Reach Milestone If He Wins Battle with Athletic Bilbao Defence

If Lionel Messi notches twice against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, then he will hit a milestone of 400 career goals for club and country.

But if he is to do that, then he must overcome Athletic Bilbao's tough defensive setup, including the young but brilliant Aymeric Laporte and rugged veteran Carlos Gurpegui.

Messi's brilliance is undoubted, and he has already had a key impact on Barcelona's first two games this season.

Against Elche he notched twice in the club's 3-0 win at Camp Nou. After that, he set up Sandro Ramirez to score the winner as Barcelona defeated Villarreal 1-0 at El Madrigal.

He is almost certain to start against Athletic in his usual false nine role, with two of five players alongside him.

Alberto Saiz/Associated Press

Rafinha, Pedro, Munir El Haddadi, Sandro and Neymar are jostling to feature with Messi as Barcelona welcome the Basques to Camp Nou. The Bilbao side are no pushovers, however. 

They are back in the Champions League for the first time in 16 years, and Ernesto Valverde has a well-drilled and entertaining outfit.

Striker Aritz Aduriz is always sniffing around for opportunities, and Ibai Gomez has proven to be a positive creative influence on the side.

But those are problems for the defence to deal with. What Messi is more interested in doing is getting the better of the aforementioned defensive structure.

Laporte broke through properly under Marcelo Bielsa as a left-back, but he is now established in his centre-back role.

He is extremely quick and reads the game well, which helps him make several interceptions.

Salvatore Laporta/Associated Press

Gurpegui, on the other hand, can be utilised in defensive midfield or at centre-back.

He is the club's most experienced player, at 34, and has been with Athletic for many years.

If he is not selected against Barcelona, then it will be Mikel San Jose alongside Laporte.

San Jose was called up to the latest Spain squad by Vicente del Bosque and has been quietly developing at the Basque club.

Ander Iturraspe, likely to be deployed in defensive midfield, will also be buzzing around Messi, especially if the Argentine drops a little deeper to show for the ball.

Messi has form for breaking records against Athletic, too, although you could say that about a lot of sides.

David Ramos/Associated Press

In 2011-12, Barcelona won 2-0, and Messi became the first player to score 56 official goals in a single season for 10 years. 

Furthermore, Messi struck twice against Bilbao in December 2012, the following season, which helped him go on to beat Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar year, ending up with 91.

It won't be easy, but Messi knows that by netting two goals he will reach his milestone and also probably win the game for Barcelona.

He can draw inspiration from his manager, Luis Enrique.

The Asturian scored a hat-trick back in the 2000-2001 season against Athletic in a huge 7-0 win, netting the first, second and fifth.