Lionel Messi once sent out special Christmas gift to 160 players but most will have wanted to avoid it

Lionel Messi once sent out Christmas gifts to 160 different players back in 2020, including 13 from the Premier League.

Just days before Christmas, Messi scored his 644th goal for Barcelona against Real Valladolid - breaking the legendary Pele's record for the most strikes for one club.

Beer company Budweiser, who Messi was associated with, came up with a genius marketing campaign to mark his special achievement.

They sent out personalised beer bottles to all 160 goalkeepers he had scored past since opening his account with the Blaugrana against Albacete in May 2005.

The limited edition lagers, which each had an individual number, made their way to the goalkeepers shortly after Messi's historic achievement and the number of bottles received were reflected in how many times Messi had scored past them.

All bottles had a message which read: "This feat is made even more extraordinary given they were scored against the best keepers in the world. We know of no other competitors more worthy of celebrating. Kings aren't made overnight."

Former Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves received the most bottles with 21, while Iker Casillas was handed 17 bottles as that is how many times Messi beat him in various El Clasico fixtures.

Casillas was many of players to post about his delivery, posting: "I didn't think they would arrive, but here are my personalised bottles of Budweiser! Congratulations Leo Messi on your 644th goal record. I remember well when you scored goals 264 and 265. Good game, good draw, and good thing you never scored against me again!"

In the Premier League, David de Gea, Hugo Lloris, Claudio Bravo, Edwin van der Sar, Petr Cech, Joe Hart, Alisson Becker, Fraser Forster, Willy Caballero, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Bernd Leno, Vicente Guaita, Manuel Almunia, Adrian and Mat Ryan all got beers to acknowledge the damage Messi had done to them.

Jan Oblak and Thibaut Courtois were handed 10 and nine respectively for the goals the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner put past them.

Gianluigi Buffon was delighted with his beers sent by Lionel Messi. Image: Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon shared many duels with Messi and he was delighted with the beers, writing: "Thanks for the beers. I’ll take it as a compliment. We have great battles over the years! "Congratulations on breaking the 644 record #Messi! it really is an unbelievable achievement. Cheers!".

Meanwhile, Hart weighed in on Instagram, commenting: "Nothing but respect for the great man @leomessi seems strange to be 'proud' to have conceded goals but at the end of the day we are dealing with greatness ... congratulations and it's just a privilege for me and to be a part of his history and an achievement that will never be matched."

Here is the list in full:

21 - Diego Alves.

18 - Gorka Iraizoz.

17 - Iker Casillas, Andres Fernandez.

14 - Diego Lopez.

13 - Ivan Cuellar, Roberto.

12 - Andres Palop, Tono, Pau Lopez.

11 - Claudio Bravo , Dudu Aouate, Ruben Martinez, Marko Dmitrovic.

10 - Jan Oblak.

9 - Carlos Kameni, Thibaut Courtois, Beto.

8 - Christian Abbiati, Daniel Aranzubia, Sergio Asenjo, Fernando Pacheco.

7 - Miguel Moya, Cesar Sanchez, Jordi Codina, Willy Caballero, Bernd Leno, Cristian Alvarez, Keylor Navas, Antonio Adan, Juan Carlos, Sergio Rico.

6 - Asier Riesgo, Gustavo Munua, David de Gea, Casto, Kiko Casilla, Gero Rulli, Manuel Almunia.

5 - Sergio Aragoneses, Vicente Guaita, Salvatore Sirigu, Przemyslaw Tyton, Fabri, Oier Olazabal, Iago Herrerin, Sergio Alvarez, Ruben Blanco, Tomas Vaclik.

4 - Ricardo, David Cobeno, Gregory Coupet, Javi Varas, Esteban, Julio Cesar, Andrey Dikan, Adrian, Yoel Rodriguez, Bono, Jeroen Zoet, Aitor Fernandez, Jordi Masip, Manolo Reina.

3 - Wojciech Szczesny, Franco Costanzo, Toni Doblas, Andriy Pyatov, Roberto Fernandez, German Lux, Hugo Lloris, Alexandros Tzorvas, Johan Selberg-Wiland, Roman Pavlik, Kenneth Vermeer, Jasper Cillessen, Urko Pardo, Diego Marino, Mat Ryan, Dorus de Vries, Leandro Chichizola, Neto.

2 - Luis Garcia, Ruben Perez, Remy Vercoutre, Artur Boruc, Sergio Sanchez, Juan Pablo, Hans Jorg Butt, Edwin van der Sar, Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, Jens Lehmann, Jacobo Sanz, Juan Calatayud, Aleksandr Gutor, Rafael, Mario Fernandez, Mikel Saizar, Joe Hart, Jaime Jimenez, Manuel Neuer, Petr Cech, David Ospina , Jon Ander Serantes, Craig Gordon, Nauzet Perez, Gianluigi Buffon, Kepa , David Soria, Axel Werner, Alisson, Jaume Domenech, Sergio Herrera.

1 - Anthony Lopes, Mathieu Gorgelin, Raul Valbuena, Mario Galinovic, Inaki Lafuente, Jose Pinto, Tim Wiese, Javier Lopez Vallejo, Marco Storari, Raphael Schafer, Allan McGregor, Stefano Sorrentino, Vladan Kujovic, Timo Hildebrand, Francesc Arnau, Juan Carlos Caballero, Rui Patricio, Leo Franco, Inaki Goitia, Juan Pablo Carrizo, Vladimir Stojkovic, Oscar Ustari, Diego Calzado, Federico Vilar, Damian Albil, Justo Villar, Fock, Helton, Fraser Forster, Dani Hernandez, Marco Amelia, Enaut Zubikarai, Jesus Fernandez, Xabi Irureta, Julian Cuesta, Marcelo Barovero, Manu Fernandez, Yann Sommer, Kevin Trapp, Silvio Proto, Juan Soriano, Stole Dimitrievski, Ondrej Kolar, Roman Burki, Rui Silva, Alex Remiro, Denes Dibusz, Ruslan Neshcheret.