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Lionel Messi’s brilliance on the pitch makes it very easy for one to think that he basically has all football records in his pocket. The Barcelona star was snubbed for this year’s Best FIFA Men's Player Award after he was omitted from the top three list, however, he continues to be rated by many as the greatest player ever to play the game.
The Argentina captain has dazzled the world of football for the past decade and his five Ballon d’Or awards are just the least proof of his unmatched credentials. Earlier this week, Messi was once again at his usual best as he inspired Barcelona to a massive 4-2 victory over Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League.
The 31-year-old scored a double en route to that victory and could have even had a hat-trick had it not been for the brilliance of Spurs goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris. This brings Messi’s goal tally in this year’s Champions League to five in just two games.
The Argentine also has four Champions League trophies to his credit and it will definitely take some time before the world sees a talent as special as Messi.
However, despite his on-field brilliance, there are still a number of records that Messi is yet to break when it comes to European football. He may have broken and set a couple, but there are more records that he isn’t close to yet.
Here are five records that the Barca captain is yet to break.
#5 Most appearances in European competitions
Another record in European competition that Lionel Messi is yet to equal or break is that of most appearances. The Barcelona star made his Champions League debut in the 2004-05 season as a teenager but has progressively become a regular in the Catalan side.
Having started in Tuesday’s demolition of Tottenham, Messi now has 128 appearances in Europe’s flagship club competition. Considering he is just 31, that number of games is huge and he could even take his appearance numbers further up in the coming years.
Messi may have a few more years to keep on playing at the top level, but the current holder of the record for most appearances in European competition is former Real Madrid goalie, Iker Casillas.
The Porto goalkeeper made his debut in the Champions League in the late 1990s and has been consistent in the competition for the last two decades.
Casillas has an astonishing 179 appearances in the Champions League, which is yet to be matched by any footballer – not even the great Lionel Messi.
#4 Most goals in Champions League finals
Again, Lionel Messi’s unmatched goal tally means that he has often gotten on the scoresheet many times during finals of European competitions. The Barcelona superstar has so far played in four Champions League finals and has impressively won the title on each occasion.
However, his goals in finals are not quite as impressive. Messi has scored just twice in the four European finals he has played in, with both coming against Manchester United in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.
To this end, the 31-year-old is missing when it comes to the player with the most goals in European finals. That record is currently held by two Real Madrid legends, Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano.
Both players were just as influential in their prime as Messi currently is and were able to score seven goals apiece in the finals of the European competition. Their record is yet to be broken by Messi or any other footballer for that matter.
#3 Most goals in a single European campaign
Lionel Messi has goals written all over him. Despite not being a striker, the Barcelona star’s numbers can rival any of the top forwards in the game currently. The Argentine has won many top-scorer awards both in Spain and in Europe, but he’s still short on the record for most goals in a single European competition.
Following Wednesday’s heroics against Tottenham where he scored two goals, Messi now has 105 goals to his credit in the Champions League alone. However, when it comes to the most goals in a single European campaign, the Argentina captain misses out to Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao.
Both Ronaldo and Falcao hold the enviable record, having once netted 17 goals apiece in a single campaign in Europe. Falcao netted an astonishing 17 goals in the 2010-11 Europa League season, while Ronaldo scored the same number of goals in the 2013-14 Champions League campaign.
Till date Messi’s best goal return in a European competition is 14, which came in the 2011-12 season.
#2 Fastest goal in the Champions League
Lionel Messi has broken and set many records in his football career, but the record for fastest goal in the Champions League is not part of them. This is just one of few football records that the Argentine is yet to break.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner loses out of that record to former Netherlands international Roy Makaay.
The Dutch legend scored a sensational goal after just 10.12 seconds during a Champions League game between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in 2007.
That goal remains the fastest ever scored on a UEFA Champions League night.
#1 Fastest hat-trick in European competition
Lionel Messi has so far scored a whopping 105 goals in the Champions League. Among those are singles, doubles, hat-tricks and there was even a time when he scored five goals in a single Champions League game.
The Argentine has six hat-tricks in the competition – making him the player with the most – but that still does not put him top of the list when it comes to the record for fastest hat-trick ever scored in a European competition.
Surprisingly, that enviable record is held by France international Bafetimbi Gomis. The 33-year-old attained the record in 2011 during a Champions League game between Olympique Lyon and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
Gomis scored his three goals in less than ten minutes to help Lyon record a massive victory. No player has since been able to score a hat-trick within such time in a European competition.
