Many fans wonder if one day anyone will achieve 8 Golden Balls like Lionel Messi. It seems difficult to repeat, because La Pulga has created a big gap with another superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo (5) and the next person on the list is only 3 (Platini, Cruyff and Van Basten), which is not yet half of what Messi won. But that’s not the only Messi record that seems “unbeatable”. Below are 5 other records that challenge every player.
91 goals in a calendar year
To understand the meaning of the number Messi achieved in 2012, let’s compare it with Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo. These two “scoring machines” have reached the maximum number of goals of 69 in a calendar year. The Polish striker did it in 2021 with Bayern Munich and CR7 at Real Madrid in 2013. Further comparison is that Haaland and Mbappe have scored 44 and 40 goals so far in 2023, with 2 months to go . Although the Norwegian striker has had a great year, he is still 47 goals away from Messi’s record (for both club and national team).
82 goals in a season (73 for club)
The two data, both total goals (club and national team) and goals achieved at club level in the 2011/12 season, are both records. Let’s compare again to see how difficult it is to reach that milestone: Ronaldo’s most scoring season is 61 with Real Madrid (2014/15) and 66 if you add achievements for Portugal. . Gerd Muler scored a total of 67 goals in the 1972/73 season and Pele 66 in the 1957/58 season. Messi’s data in the 2011/12 season is from aliens.
50 goals in one tournament
For 20 years, one of La Liga’s questions has been whether anyone would one day surpass the goalscoring record held by Zarra and Hugo Sanchez, who scored 38 goals in the 1950/51 and 1989/90 seasons. Since 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo has passed that milestone three times, Messi three more times and Luis Suarez another time. Messi left a mark with 50 goals in a season (Ronaldo scored 48 goals in the 2014/15 season), something almost no one can dream of.
19 consecutive rounds scoring at least one goal
Once again, the significance of the record is measured by comparing it with the second and third, namely Ronaldo Nazario and Cristiano Ronaldo, who were able to score in 10 consecutive matches. Messi did it in 19 consecutive rounds, scoring against every team in the first half of the 2012/13 campaign. This record only stopped due to his injury. In fact, after the injury, he scored again in the next 2 matches, and holds the record for consecutive days played and scored with 21.
474 goals in LaLiga
Until Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo appeared, the player with the most goals in La Liga history was Telmo Zarra. The legendary striker of Athletic Bilbao scored 252 goals. But then Messi reached 474, 163 goals more than the second person (Cristiano) and 224 goals more than the third person.
To see the greatness of this number, compare it with the top scorers in the history of the other 5 major tournaments: In the Premier League, it is Shearer with 260 goals (214 goals less than Messi in La Liga). ), in Serie A is Silvio Piola with 274 (200 goals less than Messi in La Liga), in Bundesliga is Gerd Muller with 365 (109 goals less than Messi in La Liga) and in Ligue 1 is Delio Onnis with 299 (175 goals less than Messi in La Liga).
