Three Lionel Messi records that can never be broken
Decoding Lionel Messi has been one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Elegance, vigor, class, a range of jaw-dropping characteristics blazed with the artistry that can imprint itself in football folktales for a lifetime. It’s amazing how quickly words turn into adjectives and adjectives turn into superlatives when thinking about Messi.
Also read: Lionel Messi Wins 8th Ballon D’Or
The enigmatic Inter Miami star has blessed the sport for nearly two decades, turning into a soccer god amongst people across the world and in a country that already idolizes one of the finest in Diego Maradona.
And to fall into that bracket, or be in a bracket of his own, tells the story. Messi is a supernatural force.
Such forces have the strongest of winds, a persona that only they can own. As for Messi, he makes the ball talk and spin in whatever direction he wants, seemingly defying the laws of physics in the process.
The 36-year-old has lived through the match days ripping history apart, and below, we discuss three of his chart-busting records that are likely to never be broken.
#1 Most goals in a calendar year (91)
Ninety-one. Soak it in. Relive it.
Having been accustomed to the widespread arms of Messi pointing to the heavens on a regular basis, and yet coming out of it stunned, was all that he was about in 2012.
He isn’t even an out-and-out number nine. While players dream of scoring close to a century of senior goals over the course of their careers, Messi went on and notched them in merely 69 games.
Messi amassed goals: the kind of goals that cannot even be painted in comics. Simply scripting the unthinkable, Messi went on to break several records that season, almost every three days at one stage.
He would go on to smash 50 goals in La Liga, whilst recording 72 goals during the league season – perhaps, two more records that will stay intact for the time being.
It’s almost criminal to pinpoint a period of his career and attach the word ‘prime’ to it, but if there ever was one, 25-year-old Messi was at the pinnacle of his work.
#2 Most La Liga goals (474)
It’s almost impossible to contextualize the weight of this Messi record.
La Liga’s list of the greatest goal scorers includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Telmo Zarra and Karim Benzema amongst other famed icons of the game. As stunning as Ronaldo was with his 311 goals, Messi stands on a pedestal of his own with 163 more to his name.
It’s simply ridiculous to formulate how the forward maintained a goals-per-game ratio of 0.91 over a career spanning 17 years in the Spanish top-flight. Add his 192 La Liga assists – also more than any other player to have stepped foot in the league – and that leaves us with the undisputed argument, that was, in the first place, never in doubt.
#3 Eight Ballon d’Ors
Eight Ballon d’Or trophies is simply not enough to describe just how big the margins are between Messi and the rest.
It’s a symbol of longevity, one that draws you to his journey right from the early 2000s to when he was tearing defenses apart in his oyster gray hairstyle and perfectly cropped beard.
Messi nearly doubled his Paris Saint-Germain goal tally in his second and final season, netting 21 goals across 41 appearances, completing the domestic double.
But what saw him pocket votes was the divine script he wrote in the FIFA World Cup. Scoring in every round of Argentina’s campaign and completing 21 goal contributions – usurping the great Pele – meant that the leader of the pack bestrode the competition as La Albiceleste jolted their way to glory.
In the present age, it’s hard to see anyone achieving close to Messi’s, or even Ronaldo’s five Ballon d’Or titles. The two have spoiled our expectations of greatness and turned extraordinary into a quotidian act.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Christopher Johnson. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.