Playing soccer against Lionel Messi has never seemed particularly fun, especially if you’re one of the goalkeepers who will invariably get beaten by the best player to ever set foot on the pitch. This week, Messi passed the latest mile marker in his decorated career when he scored his 644th goal for Barcelona.
That goal, a 65th minute strike against Valladolid in a 3-0 Barcelona win, set the new record for the most goals scored for one club, breaking Pele’s mark with Brazilian side Santos. It is a remarkable record by any measure — a testament to his brilliance, longevity, and tenure with one club — and in celebration of the achievement, Budweiser thought it’d be fun to rub a little salt in the wound for those who helped him along the way.
Budweiser sent custom bottles of beer to all the keepers who have been beaten by Messi over the years. As Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid and Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus posted on their Instagrams, the beer company sent one bottle of beer for every goal Messi scored against each keeper, with the numbers of the various goals along this journey plastered on the front.
This is, at the very least, delightful banter and a good way for a bunch of guys to get their hands on free beer. Still, if I was the dude on the receiving end of this, I probably would not want just one beer as I got reminded of it.