SUMMARY
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ElClasico – Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona – the biggest club game in football featuring the best players in the world, is a usually a moment to stop and reflect on record-breakers.
But looking at FC Barcelona’s club records, there’s always one name that comes up time and time again – Lionel Messi.
Messi is the only player in history to have won the Ballon d’Or for the world’s best player 6 times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019).
Though the Ballon d’Or may be a subjective award, Messi has many reasons to prove that he deserves the title over the years.
He was awarded the European Golden Boot 6 times (2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19).
Messi also won the Pichichi prize for LaLiga Santander’s top scorer in each of these years, as well as also winning the Pichichi in 2019/20 when he was the Spanish league’s top scorer without being Europe’s overall top scorer.
That season, he scored 25 goals and provided 22 assists in the league, becoming the first player to record over 20 both in goals and assists.
In 2012, Messi’s goalscoring abilities reached mind-blowing and unprecedented levels.
In that calendar year, he scored a record-breaking 96 goals from January to December (84 with Barcelona and 12 with Argentina).
And he’s the only player to have scored more than 40 goals in 10 consecutive seasons.
Objectively speaking, he’s off the charts, but even that may be an understatement.
ElClasico record-breaker
As the second ElClasico of the season approaches, Messi will be looking to add to his tally of 26 goals against Real Madrid.
Messi holds the record in this special fixture, with 18 coming from LaLiga Santander, two in the Champions League and 6 in the Spanish Super Cup. The Argentine great also saw a record 44 matches against Real Madrid.
His records don’t stop there. In Barcelona’s recent 6-1 win over Real Sociedad at the end of March, Messi became the Blaugrana’s all-time top appearance maker in competitive matches, playing his 768th match with the club whose youth academy he joined at the age of 13.
That put him ahead of the previous record-holder Xavi Hernández, another Barça legend.
Previously, the record for the most goals scored by a Barcelona player had been held by César Rodríguez since the 1950s, who finished his time at the club with 232 goals.
Messi has since smashed that record tally, and at the end of March 2021 he sits with 663 club goals. That makes him the player with the most goals for a single club, surpassing Pelé’s Santos total of 643.
In terms of hardware, Messi has won the most trophies with Barcelona. His 34 titles with the first team recently surpassed Andres Iniesta’s 32.
LaLiga records
Not only does Messi hold almost all club records at Barcelona, but he also tops the standings for scores of LaLiga records.
His 467 LaLiga goals as of March 2021 continues sit on top of the records and is way ahead of second-placed Cristiano Ronaldo’s 311.
Messi also dominates the three-point column, winning a record 379 matches in Spain’s top tier league.
Other LaLiga records that stand out are Messi’s competition-leading 38 direct freekick goals or the fact that he holds the record for the most consecutive matchdays with at least one goal, netting in an incredible 19 games in a row in the 2012/13 season.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid may offer up the best matchups, the most talented players and greatest storylines in football, but Lionel Messi continues to surprise and astound, 16 years after his ElClasico debut. – Rappler.com
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