Lionel Messi bagged his 700th club goal joining Cristiano Ronaldo as the only other star to achieve the milestone.
Lionel Messi has joined his long term rival, Ronaldo, on the list of players to achieve 700 club goals. The Portuguese superstar cracked the milestone earlier this year when he netted against Everton while in Man United. As for the Argentine, he achieved his on PSG’s Sunday’s win .
Lionel Messi is enjoying an impressive year in Paris. However, he scored the majority of his club goals for Barcelona. Here, he spent almost two decades. 672 of his strikes came for the Catalans with the remainign 28 coming during his time with PSG.
Messi’s historic achievement came as PSG got their Ligue 1 campaign back on track with a 3-0 win over Marseille. During the success, Kylian Mbappe socred his 200th goals for the Parisans equalling Edinson Cavani’s all-time goal record for the club.
The 35-year-old has brought up the 700 mark in 840 games. This is 103 fewer that of Ronaldo. His most prolific period however came around a decade ago when he broke the record for amount of goals scored in a calender year. His 2011/12 season remains his best over a campaign nettering 73 times.
Messi’s legacy has long been cemented. However, he can further etch his name into the historic books. Ronaldo left European football to join Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabai with 701 club goals under his belt. This means two more for Messi will see him have the outright lead.
The Argentine is the odds-on favorite to claim what would be a staggering eight Ballon d’Or. Him and Ronaldo were once tied on five each. But successes in 2-19 and 2021 could be followed up by another in 2023.
If that’s the case, it would largely be down to his Wolrd Cup success where he broke further records. He scored in the group stage, the last 16, te quarter-final, the semi0final and the final en route to lifting the trophy after a penalty shootout win. Additionally, he was also named as the tournament’s best player.
Regardless, his future at PSG summer remains in doubts. The Parisans are keen to retain his services but Barcelona and Inter Miami are keen. Newell’s Old Boys is also being touted as an option.