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Arguably the greatest talent the sport has ever seen, Lionel Messi, continues to defy odds.
With extraordinary dribbling skills, jaw-dropping goalscoring ability and a magnificent passing range, Messi is probably, and possibly, the most complete attacking footballer of all time.
Yesterday (4 March, 2018), in the crucial La Liga game against Atletico Madrid at home, he scored the only goal of the game - a gorgeous freekick (his 6th of the season) in the 26th minute to help Barcelona to a vital 1-0 win, thus taking his team eight points clear at the top of the table with 11 games to go.
While judging a once-in-a-lifetime athlete purely by numbers is criminal, we can't help but gawk with awe at the exceptional statistics the inimitable Argentine has put up so far. As we step into the future, this is how Messi's career looks like when you reduce it to numbers:
747 - The total number of appearances in his career for club and country. Since making his official senior debut on 16 October, 2004 for Barcelona as a scrawny teenager aged just 17, Messi has racked up a humungous number of games under his belt in less than 13 and a half years; 624 of those are for Barcelona.
600 - The number of official career goals for club and country for the little magician at an astonishing ratio of 0.803 goals per game.
539 - The number of times he has scored in his club career - all of them for Barcelona.
496 - Understandably, a majority of his goals have been scored by that magic wand of his left foot.
493 - Having spent his entire career with Barcelona, he has scored a bulk of his goals in Spain.
491 - While brilliant since 2006, his goalscoring hit a different level since the turn of the decade. 491 of his 600 have been scored since the start of 2010.
373 - Goals scored in La Liga alone in just 409 games, while also providing a league record 149 assists.
246 - Being a spectacular playmaker, especially in recent seasons, he has assisted an enormous number of goals for his teammates.
98 - Goals scored in the premier club competition in Europe -the UEFA Champions League, in only 122 games.
97 - Unstoppable the world over, it is no wonder he has scored in these many different stadiums.
77 - While not considered his strongest suit, Messi has still put away his fair share of penalties.
77 - While he plays predominantly with his magical left foot, he has scored an impressive number with his right foot.
61 - Goals scored for his national side, Argentina.
44 - The phenomenal number of hattricks scored by the dazzling Messi.
39 - Total number of direct freekick goals in his career so far.
30 - The amazing number of trophies racked up already by the Argentine for Barcelona.
24 - Number of freekicks in La Liga alone - an all-time record.
5 - Record number of Ballons d'Ors won, shared jointly with Cristiano Ronaldo.
4 - Record number of European Golden Shoes won, shared jointly with Cristiano Ronaldo.
3 - With his freekick against Atletico Mardrid to scored his 600th goal, he has scored freekicks in 3 consecutive games twice in his career: January 2017 & Feb-March 2018.
In his unique career, he has punished several teams with his goals. These three, however, are his favorite victims: Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid with 29 goals (31 games), 28 goals (36 games) and 25 goals (37 games) respectively against three of the biggest clubs in Spain.
Well, what more can you say about this incredible little man? Here's what ex-English great and long time Messi admirer Gary Lineker had to say after today's match:
(Stats updated as of 4 March, 2018. Sourced from messi.starplayerstats - the official supplier of Messi statistics.)
