5 stats that prove Lionel Messi is the GOAT

Lionel Messi has been a brilliant footballer throughout his entire career and is arguably one of the best players to ever grace a football field. He currently sits at the top of La Liga's goalscoring charts with 19 goals, ahead of Real Madrid's Karim Benzema by 5 goals.

While this hasn't exactly been his best season in recent years, the Argentine talisman remains in contention for the European Golden Boot and is on course to win his 7th Pichichi trophy in just under a decade.

Without further ado, let's take a look at five stats that prove that Lionel Messi is the GOAT:

#1 He has scored 25 league goals in each of the last 10 La Liga seasons

In Europe's top five leagues, most strikers struggle to hit the 20-goal mark. Rarely do the most clinical of finishers manage even 25 goals in a league season. However, Lionel Messi has crossed this hurdle consistently for an entire decade.

Notably, he has crossed the 30-goal mark an astonishing eight times in the same decade, while in 2012, he confounded critics and hit the 50-goal mark. Archrival Cristiano Ronaldo came close in 2015 when he scored 48 league goals, two shy of the record number.

#2 He has 22 La Liga goals as a substitute

It is not too common for Barcelona fans to see Lionel Messi on the bench but when it happens, the Argentine often proves himself to be a world-class super-sub.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored 34 goals after being substituted into a game, which makes him more effective off the bench than any other Barcelona player. Besides that, he has notably scored 22 league goals from the bench, making him the top-scoring La Liga substitute of the 21st century.

#3 He has scored 52 direct free-kicks for club and country

It isn't news that Lionel Messi is quite phenomenal in dangerous dead-ball situations but the stats show just how unstoppable he is. The forward has scored an astonishing 46 direct free-kicks for the Catalan giants and he has also managed six for Argentina.

Most notably, more than half of his epic strikes have come within the last half-decade, setting him head-and-shoulders above every other free-kick specialist in European football. This statistic certainly puts him way ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has not scored a direct free-kick for Juventus since his move to Turin.

#4 He has 1000 goal contributions

A few game-weeks before Spanish football was suspended due to the pandemic, Lionel Messi recorded four spectacular goals during a five-goal rout of Eibar. While this helped the Blaugrana skipper considerably stretch his lead as La Liga's top goalscorer, he also became the first player to hit 1000 goal contributions.

In the last decade of La Liga seasons, the Argentine has crossed the 10-assist mark nine times and also hit his personal best of 18 assists twice. In addition to his goalscoring capacity, the 32-year-old's ability to create chances for his teammates has clearly enhanced his odds of achieving this feat.

Be the first one to touchdown in the latest football news.

Messi's statistics and achievements are ridiculous, but scoring and assisting enough goals to become the first-ever player to contribute a thousand is simply outrageous. Even more shocking, the diminutive forward still has a couple more years until he hangs up his boots.

#1 He has scored 41 career hat-tricks for Barcelona

In the same Eibar game where he crossed the 1000-goal contribution mark, Lionel Messi picked up his 41st career hat-trick for Barcelona. Interestingly, this is the second time he has scored four goals against Eibar, with the first instance having taken place in the 2017-18 season.

His uncanny ability to find the back of the net showcased itself during an El Clasico game where the then-youngster scored his first professional hat-trick. The Blaugrana will be hoping for a strong return to football in the coming days and the Argentine maestro might just pick up another hat-trick before the season ends.