Football Classic: Ronaldinho assisting Messi to score his debut goal for Barca

May 1, 2005 was the day when Lionel Messi got himself on the scoresheet for the first time ever in a Barcelona shirt. He then jumped on the Ronaldinho, his assister's back to celebrate. Some call it the passing of the torch.

Those inside the Camp Nou watching Barcelona vs Albacete could never have predicted that this 17-year-old wearing the No. 30 shirt would go on to become the greatest player to have ever played the game. But those inside the stadium were lucky enough to witness a piece of history.

Messi replaced Samuel Eto'o in the 87th minute as Frank Rijkaard's side led 1-0.

Within minutes, the young Argentine had the ball in the back of the net after a pass from Ronaldinho. However, he had strayed fractionally offside.

But there was still time for Messi to latch onto another pass from Ronaldinho and lob the ball over the goalkeeper.

What has happened in the following 15 years has been known to the whole world.

Messi has scored another 626 goals for Barca in 718 appearances. That has helped him win a record-breaking six Ballon d'Or awards.

He's led Barcelona to 34 trophies - including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.

He may turn 33 next month but Messi is showing no signs of slowing down.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Messi had scored 19 goals in 22 La Liga matches during the 2019/20 campaign.

Hopefully, that means we still have many more years of Messi gracing us with his brilliance at the very top level.