Barcelona equal LaLiga's all-time unbeaten record with win over Leganes
Real Sociedad initially set the record in May 1980, with their run starting 13 months earlier.
But Barcelona stand on the brink of surpassing them after extending their incredible streak at Camp Nou, with Ernesto Valverde's men continuing their surge towards the league title.
Messi fittingly marked the occasion with a hat-trick, finding the net twice in the first half - including a glorious free-kick - before rounding out the scoring in the 87th minute.
Barca last suffered defeat in LaLiga way back on April 8 2017, when they travelled to Malaga and succumbed to a 2-0 loss - former academy player Sandro Ramirez and Jony Menendez got the goals, as Neymar was dismissed for the Catalans.
There have been no such shocks so far this term, however, with Barca cruising towards the title and now sit xx points clear as a result of beating Leganes.
Although La Real managed to set the unbeaten record, Barca's is rather more impressive for a host of reasons.
First of all, their haul of 31 wins in that period is 10 better than the Basque side, while they have also scored a whopping 46 more goals.
Barca's top scorer over their 38 games has - unsurprisingly - been Messi with 39, ably supported by Luis Suarez's 27-goal haul.
By comparison, La Real's most prolific attacker at the time of setting the record was former Spain international Jesus Maria Satrustegui with 21. Roberto Lopez Ufarte backed him up with 11.
But there is one area where Barca have not been able to match up to La Real, and that is defensively, conceding three more than the record-setters.
Barca, who ironically began their unbeaten run with a 3-2 win over La Real on April 15 last year, can set a new record at home to Valencia next Saturday.
38 - Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 38 La Liga games (W31 D7), equaling the all-time La Liga record set by Real Sociedad between 1979 and 1980 (W21 D17). Invincible. pic.twitter.com/bxSSTvZ55r
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 7, 2018