Lionel Messi is breaking records left and right in the Spanish league written
Lionel Messi is now the leading goalscorer in European Champions League history after he scored a hat trick for his team, Barcelona in its 4-0 win against the Apoel Nicosia. Raul, a former Real Mandrid forward held the leading goal scorer record in the Champions League with 71 goals but now Messi has scored 74 goals in this league.
How long it to Messi to break the record
Messi has scored the goals after only 91 appearances in the league. Raul who previously held the record, had scored 71 goals after appearing for 142 times in the Champions League. However, the player was unlikely to continue holding this record after Christiano Ronaldo and Messi had rewritten the history books. Messi started the night in the same position with Raul but after 38 minutes, he broke the record and then added other two goals for a later good measure. The player is now sitting three goals clear of Ronaldo who hopefully will feature for Real Madrid against the Swiss Side Barsei on Wednesday. Image may be NSFW.
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Considering that Lionel Messi is 27, this latest landmark is one of several he has reached in the most recent years. This great Barcelona player and whose future in the club is questionable did hit the news headlines last weekend after he scored another hat trick in a 5-1 win against Sevilla. The 251 Spanish League goals record of Telmo Zarra had stood for 59 years and it would only take a brave man to bet against the Messi’s remaining longer. Messi will possibly extend his 253 goals record in coming years and still extend the record he has set in the Champions League.
Total goals
In all competitions, Messi has scored 369 goals for Barcelona and also registered 91 times during an amazing 2012 and this was after beating Gerd Muller, the former best of 85 in the calendar year. The 2011-12 campaign was among his most successful after he scored 68 goals – 50 of them coming in only 37 league games and having used his left foot to score 44 of the goals and his head to score one of the goals.
Messi, who has also won the honored Ballon d’Or four times between the year 2009 and 2012, appeared in 21 consecutive matches in the league which helped him score against the many clubs in the top Spanish league fight. With Barcelona safely through to the competition’s next stage and following a poor campaign last year, hopefully, Messi will inspire the team to the Champions League glory.
Liverpool’s former player Luis Suarez who scored his first goal after joining Barcelona is among the men who are eager to assist Messi attain this. In Cyprus Suarez scored the team’s opening goal while Messi took over and scored three goals to secure their win. Barcelona is now sitting one point behind the Paris Saint-Germain which won their match against Ajax, 3-1 to remain at the top.
Messi is not the only striker from Argentina who hit a hat trick on Wednesday. Sergio Arguero also scored three goals for Manchester City enabling them to defeat Bayern Munich 3-2. The team trailed 2-1 to the 10 men Bayern Munich but within the last five minutes Aguero managed to score twice and kept his team’s hopes for qualification alive. Bayern which has already passed through the knockout stage suffered the nightmare start after Mehdi Benatia was dispatched due to a professional foul on Sergio Aguero.
