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It’s been almost ten years since Lionel Messi made his debut for Barcelona’s senior team in October 2004, becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for the Catalan club and also the youngest club player to play in La Liga (at the time). Although he no longer holds that record, he went on to set dozens more, especially in the goal scoring department.Messi has already broken Barcelona’s all time goal scoring record in March last season, a record that stood for 87 years. And he is only 27 years old. The number of goals he will end up scoring when he hangs up his boots will probably stand the test of time with arguably no candidates in sight in the near future who can break his records.MESSI'S STATS FOR BARCELONA AND ARGENTINA COMBINED (as of 12 September, 2014)GAMESWINSDRAWSLOSSESGOALSASSISTS52035010466398153And he isn’t done breaking records just yet. Here’s a list of records he can break this season itself.
#1 Most hat-tricks in La Liga
The Argentine forward is currently on 19 hat-tricks in La Liga – a phenomenal record for a player who is just 27!
And he needs only four more to break the all-time record which is jointly held by Telmo Zarra and Alfredo Di Stefano.
Some of his most memorable hat-tricks include the one against Real Madrid in 2007, scoring four against Valencia in 2012 and twice against Atletico Madrid in the same calendar year in 2011.
He has averaged between six to seven hat-tricks per year (in all competitions) in the past during his prime. So this record is well within reach this season. And who’s level with him? None other than Cristiano Ronaldo.
| # | PLAYER | GAMES | HAT-TRICKS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telmo Zarra | 277 | 22 |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | 331 | 22 | |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | 279 | 19 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 166 | 19 |
#2 Most goals scored in La Liga history
Telmo Zarra ended his La Liga career with Athletic Bilbao in the 1954-55 season having scored a truckload of goals – 251 in the league to be precise.
And now, after 59 long years, his record as the highest all-time goal scorer in La Liga history is under threat from the Argenitne magician. Messi is just six goals short of equaling the late Zarra – seven goals away from breaking the record.
He has already gone past legends like Hugo Sanchez, Raul and Alfredo Di Stefano. And having already scored two goals this season from two games, he could most likely break the record by October or November.
The closest rival is Cristiano Ronaldo who is the only player to score at the rate of more than one goal per game in La Liga. But it is highly unlikely that Ronaldo will breach the 250-goal mark in La Liga in the next couple of seasons.
Even if he does, Messi would surely still be way ahead of him and it only makes you wonder what could have been had Ronaldo joined Real Madrid a few seasons earlier.
| # | PLAYER | GOALS | GAMES | GOALS/GAME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telmo Zarra | 251 | 278 | 0.91 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi* | 245 | 278 | 0.88 |
| 3 | Hugo Sanchez | 234 | 347 | 0.67 |
| 4 | Raúl | 228 | 550 | 0.42 |
| 5 | Alfredo Di Stefano | 227 | 329 | 0.69 |
| 6 | Cesar Rodriguez | 223 | 353 | 0.63 |
| 7 | Quini | 219 | 448 | 0.49 |
| 8 | Pahino | 210 | 278 | 0.76 |
#3 Most goals scored in Champions League history
While it is easy to dominate teams in the League, the story isn’t quite the same when it comes to Europe’s premier club competition – the UEFA Champions League.
Playing a minimum of six games (group stages) and a maximum of 13 (if the team reaches the final) against some of the top clubs in Europe, it is a competition where only legends can stamp their authority.
The current record holder for the most goals scored in the competition’s history is Real Madrid’s talisman Raul, who reached his prime during the late ‘90s and early noughties. He also managed to score a few goals in Europe for Schalke after he left Madrid.
And right behind him are two of the biggest stars in football today. Both Messi and Ronaldo can eclipse Raul’s record this season – even in the group stages itself! But Messi could break the record having played fewer games than both Raul and Ronaldo, who have both played more than 100 games in the Champions League.
The next best active player in the list? Didier Drogba. And you can safely bet that he isn’t going to score 30 goals in the Champions League this season.
| # | PLAYER | GAMES | GOALS | GOALS/GAME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raul | 142 | 71 | 0.5 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi* | 86 | 67 | 0.78 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo* | 103 | 67 | 0.65 | |
| 4 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | 73 | 56 | 0.77 |
| 5 | Thierry Henry | 112 | 50 | 0.45 |
| 6 | Alfredo Di Stefano | 58 | 49 | 0.84 |
| 7 | Andriy Shevchenko | 100 | 48 | 0.48 |
| 8 | Eusebio | 65 | 46 | 0.71 |
| Filippo Inzaghi | 81 | 46 | 0.57 | |
| 10 | Didier Drogba* | 87 | 42 | 0.48 |
- * - Active players
#4 200 goals at the Camp Nou
No other player has scored more goals at the Camp Nou than Lionel Messi – it is something that comes with the record of being Barcelona’s all-time top goal scorer.
Some players struggle to even reach the 200 goal mark in their career. But Messi is on the verge of reaching that milestone – by considering only his goals at the Camp Nou!
It seems almost impossible for someone to score 200 goals at one ground, but the Argentina captain is 3 goals away from the landmark.
| # | PLAYER | GOALS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | 197* |
| 2 | Samuel Eto'o | 78 |
| Carles Rexach | 78 | |
| 4 | Evaristo de Macedo | 75 |
| Rivaldo | 75 | |
| 6 | Juan Manuel Asensi | 70 |
| 7 | Luis Enrique | 68 |
| 8 | Jose Antonio Zaldua | 67 |
| 9 | Hristo Stoichkov | 66 |
| 10 | Patrick Kluivert | 65 |
#5 Scoring in 250 club games
While reaching the 250 goal mark is a commanding achievement by itself, has a player ever scored in 250 matches? And we’re talking about only club games here.
Well, believe it or not, Messi could reach that milestone this season. So far, he has scored in 223 club matches in his career. A staggering record!
Barcelona have the entire season ahead of them with matches in La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League. That’s easily a minimum of 43 games (even if they get knocked out of both cup competitions).
So if you do the math, he needs to score at least one goal in just 27 of those matches.
#6 400 goals for club & country
Lionel Messi’s record with Argentina isn’t too bad either, although it pales in comparison to his Barcelona career.
The Argentina captain did win the Golden Ball award at the 2014 FIFA World Cup after leading his team to the final. But the ultimate prize still eludes him.
Messi may not break the all-time goal scoring record for Argentina any time soon. He is has scored a total of 42 goals for his country in 93 games. And he is currently in second place, behind Gabriel Batistuta who has 56 from 78 games.
But adding up his goals for both club and country, the number of goals scored is an astounding 398 goals! Just two more goals for either Barcelona or Argentina will take him to the 400 mark.
Of course, it is nowhere close to the numbers racked up by legends like Pele, Gerd Muller, Eusebio and Ferenc Puskas. But in this modern age, it is very difficult to find a player who can dominate the game single-footedly like Messi does.
All stats from @MessiStat and WhoScored
