Barcelona forward Lionel Messi's record vs. Real Valladolid

Barcelona will be aiming to return to winning ways in La Liga on Saturday evening when they welcome Real Valladolid to Camp Nou.

The reigning champions have been held to successive draws by Valencia and Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish top flight to see the gap on second-placed Real Madrid narrow to six points.

Barca's stalemate at San Mames came despite the return of Lionel Messi to their starting ranks, with the Argentine forward unable to prolong his scoring run in La Liga to a ninth successive match - something he will be looking to put right against Valladolid this weekend.

Here, Sports Mole looks at Messi's goalscoring return in this fixture down the years.

Messi has had a hand in four goals in his two La Liga meetings with Valladolid at Camp Nou, scoring two of his own and setting up a couple more.

That includes a brace the last time he featured against the White and Violets in Catalonia, helping his side to run out 4-0 winners in May 2010.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has also netted in a couple of away games in this fixture, but he fired a blank when the sides met in August - Ousmane Dembele scoring the only goal of the game that evening just before the hour mark.

Of the eight previous games Messi has played against Valladolid, he has been on the winning side six times and suffered defeat only once - a 1-0 reverse at the Estadio Nuevo Jose Zorrillain in March 2014.