Lionel Messi holds many accolades from his stellar stint with Barcelona, but the Argentina great has surrendered a LaLiga record to Antoine Griezmann.

During Atletico Madrid's 1-1 draw against Espanyol, Griezmann made his 521st LaLiga appearance, a new record among non-Spanish players.

Messi took ownership of the record back in January 2020, when he played his 467th LaLiga game against Granada to overtake Donato (466), who was born in Brazil but took Spanish citizenship in 1990.

Messi ended his glittering spell with Barcelona on 520 LaLiga appearances, with a 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo at Camp Nou in May 2021, his final match in the competition.

Griezmann matched Messi's tally in a 4-2 defeat to Barca, one of the three clubs he has represented in LaLiga, before the international break and has now surpassed him outright.

The France international is also now ninth outright in LaLiga's all-time appearance charts, though he has some way to go if he is to break the overall record in LaLiga. 

Andoni Zubizarreta and Joaquin sit atop the standings, tied on 622 appearances each, though the likes of Raul (550) and Sergio Ramos (536) are within Griezmann's sights, albeit there is speculation over a possible switch to MLS. 

As Griezmann celebrates another landmark in his club career, we dive into the data surrounding his rise to the top of Spanish football. 

From Segunda promotion to Europe

After rising through the ranks at Real Sociedad, Griezmann made his senior debut for the Basque club in September 2009 and would play a major role in their promotion-winning 2009-10 season.

Griezmann scored six times in 40 appearances across all competitions, earning La Real promotion back to LaLiga after three campaigns in the second tier. 

He was 19 years old when he made his LaLiga debut in August 2010, replacing Francisco Sutil as La Real beat Villarreal 1-0 upon their return to the top flight. 

Griezmann would go on to become a household name in the division over four top-flight seasons with La Real, helping them return to Europe's elite in 2012-13. 

In the final game of that campaign, he scored the only goal against Deportivo La Coruna, which secured La Real's qualification for the Champions League for the first time since 2003-04. 

He then enjoyed his best season for the club in 2013-14, registering 20 goal involvements (16 goals, four assists), which resulted in Atletico sealing a €30million (£24m) swoop for his services. 

Griezmann ended his time in San Sebastian having made 140 appearances in LaLiga, 125 of which were starts, while netting 40 top-flight goals.

From Atletico hero to Barca struggles

Griezmann adapted rapidly to life in the Spanish capital, scoring 22 goals in 37 appearances during his first season under Diego Simeone, but the best was still to come. 

Having signed a new deal with the club in 2016, the following campaign saw him become the second Frenchman after Karim Benzema to score 100 LaLiga goals, reaching that mark in a 1-0 win away to Espanyol, on what represented his 247th top-flight appearance. 

With only the 2014 Supercopa de Espana to his name after three seasons, speculation was rife about a potential move to Manchester United, but Griezmann opted to stay put and his faith in Simeone was repaid in 2017-18 as he helped Atletico lift the Europa League trophy, scoring twice in the final against Marseille.

In that season, he scored his 100th goal for Atletico, becoming only the third player to do so in the 21st century, after Sergio Aguero and Fernando Torres.

Griezmann continued to shine, bringing up his 300th LaLiga appearance in December 2018, but his lust for a first Spanish top-flight title saw him join Barcelona the following year, a decision that proved misguided.

He struggled to adapt to life with the Blaugrana. While Griezmann scored 22 times in LaLiga across the two seasons he was there, he was often used out of position in order to accommodate Messi and Luis Suarez.

Meanwhile, having led Atletico to the title in the final campaign before Griezmann joined, Simeone repeated the trick in the second season after he was sold, in 2020-21.

But Los Colchoneros' former talisman was still highly thought of in Madrid...

Evergreen at Atletico

Griezmann returned to Atleti on a one-year loan in 2021-22, but his lack of confidence was evident as he managed just three league goals that campaign. 

At the start of 2022-23, Atletico extended Griezmann's loan for a further year. Though the start of that campaign saw his playing time limited due to a disagreement with Barcelona over a purchase clause in his deal, a permanent transfer was agreed in October.

Griezmann went on to finish the season with 34 goal involvements (16 goals, 18 assists) in all competitions, 31 of which came in the Spanish top flight. No player recorded more in LaLiga that campaign, with Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski second with 30. 

Indeed, across Europe's top five leagues, Griezmann was the joint-leading assist maker alongside Messi, then of Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne. 

The following year, he overtook club legend Luis Aragones to become Atletico's all-time top scorer, netting for the 174th time.

And at the age of 34, he shows no signs of slowing down and is leading the team's title charge in 2024-25. 

Of Griezmann's 521 top-flight outings, 308 have come for Atleti, and he is also closing in on another landmark among non-Spanish players.

He is two goals away from reaching 200 in LaLiga, and would become the sixth non-Spanish player to reach that milestone, and just the fourth player overall in the 21st century, after Messi (474), Cristiano Ronaldo (311) and Karim Benzema (238).