Lionel Messi has been considered the best soccer player in the world over the last decade. If Messi’s statistics are anything to go by, he has already joined the ranks of the greatest of all time.
Lionel Messi stats are the stuff of legends. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, breaking and setting new records seemingly every week. Let’s dive into some Leo Messi statistics to get a sense of his phenomenal career.
(Source: ESPN)
Lionel Messi’s biography is ripe for adaptation. He was born and raised in Rosario, Central Argentina, on 24 June 1987. He grew up in a tight-knit, soccer-loving family. He developed an early passion for the beautiful game, often playing with his older brothers and cousins.
Messi joined Old Boys, a team he was a lifelong fan of, in 1993. He became part of “The Machine of ‘87”, the nearly-unbeatable youth team, named after their birth year. His youth coach Adrián Coria immediately recognized his talent and knew he would be something special.
(Source: The Guardian)
His future as a professional player was nearly derailed when, at 10 years old, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. Argentina was in the middle of economic collapse at the time and his family couldn’t afford his treatment, so they hatched a plan. Messi’s family had relatives in Catalonia, so they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona, so Leo could relocate to Spain and get treatment there.
Despite initial hesitation from the board of directors, first-team director Charly Rexach offered Messi a contract on a paper napkin as a sign of commitment.
After completing his growth hormone treatment aged 14, Messi became an integral part of the “Baby Dream Team”, Barcelona’s greatest-ever youth team, alongside Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué.
(Source: ESPN)
During the 2003–04 season, his fourth with Barcelona, Messi rapidly progressed through the club’s ranks, debuting for a record five teams in a single campaign.
His debut for the first team in a friendly against José Mourinho’s Porto. Messi quickly endeared himself to the technical staff and his teammates. Particularly, it was Ronaldinho who befriended Messi and helped ease his transition into the first team.
He finished the campaign having scored for four of his five teams with a total of 36 goals in all official competitions.
(Source: The National)
Messi played only 77 minutes for the first team that entire season, coming on as a substitute in nine matches.
At the time, he was the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition and went on to become the youngest-ever scorer for the club.
He started his first game during the Joan Gamper Trophy, Barcelona’s pre-season competition, against Fabio Capello’s Juventus. With his star on the rise, Barcelona was in danger of losing their blue-chip prospect for the first time. This is why they tied him down to an unprecedented nine-year contract that would keep him at Camp Nou until 2014.
(Source: BDFutbol)
Messi’s domestic career was picking up steam, and his international career has also started taking off. As a dual Argentine-Spanish citizen, he was eligible to play for both countries. What began as a tug-of-war for his skills was quickly squashed by the diminutive dynamo, who declared his intentions to represent his country of birth.
He won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with Argentina, finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe. He then quickly drew comparisons to Diego Maradona, who had led Argentina to the title in 1979.
He was, however, constantly plagued by injuries early on, and had to sit out Barcelona’s Champions League final victory over Arsenal in Paris.
(Source: The Guardian)
While Barcelona began a gradual decline during the 2006-07 campaign, Messi’s mercurial rise continued. Already frequently compared to Maradona, those comparisons continued when Messi scored exact replicas of Maradona’s two most famous goals, the Goal of the Century and the Hand of God goal.
(Source: Spear’s Magazine)
After Ronaldinho lost form, Messi became Barça’s new star player at only 20 years old. This led to him receiving his famous nickname “Messiah”. He also started getting on the Ballon d’Or radar, coming in third and second in 2007 and 2008, respectively. This, in turn, began the storied rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo.
This boded well for his international career, where he was now a regular starter for Argentina’s national team. He helped steer the national side to the finals of the 2007 Copa América. Even though Argentina lost 3-0 to Brazil, Messi still got named Best Young Player of the tournament.
Barca’s slump continued and they finished the season with no trophies and continued doubts about Messi’s fitness. In response, Barcelona assigned him a personal physiotherapist who helped Messi stay virtually injury-free for the next four years.
(Source: BDFutbol)
Messi began his ascent to folklore levels of superstardom during the 2008–09 season. At the time, under Pep Guardiola, he began playing as a false nine behind Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry.
His excellent form that season manifested into Barcelona beating Real Madrid 6-2, the team’s greatest-ever score against their rivals. Messi scored twice and assisted in another goal during the emphatic victory. That forward momentum propelled Barca to win their first treble in the history of Spanish football.
Messi won the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards by the greatest voting margin in each of these trophies’ history.
(Source: The National)
Leo’s prosperity with Barca continued when he became that season’s Champions League top scorer with nine goals. At the time he was just 22 years old, the youngest in the tournament’s history.
He was also instrumental for his team in the second half of 2009, as Barcelona became the first club to achieve the sextuple, winning six top-tier trophies (Copa del Rey, La Liga, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Champions League, and FIFA Club World Cup) in a single year.
(Source: BDFutbol)
While Argentina’s national team was in the middle of a three-year period marked by poor performances, Messi’s club career only kept getting better.
He helped Barcelona achieve 16 consecutive league victories, a record in Spanish football, on their way to a third consecutive La Liga title.
He also finished the season as Barcelona’s all-time single-season top scorer.
(Source: BDFutbol)
Messi, at this point, had effectively become the tactical focal point of Guardiola’s team. He scored three times in a 5–4 aggregate victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup. With this, he overtook Raúl as the competition’s all-time top scorer.
He also earned the Golden Ball as the best player of the FIFA Club World Cup, as he had done two years before.
(Source: The Daily Telegraph)
Despite Lionel Messi’s career statistics continuing to set and break records at a freakish rate, Barcelona’s four-year reign of success under Guardiola came to an end. They lost the league to Real Madrid and were eliminated from the Champions League by eventual champions Chelsea.
During the campaign, Messi’s total goals tally surpassed Gerd Müller’s record of most goals scored in a calendar year. As a gesture of respect, Messi sent Müller a number 10 Barcelona shirt.
(Source: FranceFootball)
After four largely injury-free seasons, the muscular injuries that had previously plagued Messi reoccurred. He struggled with injury throughout 2013, eventually parting ways with his long-time personal physiotherapist. He suffered five injuries, and his overall statistics took a drop. Those injuries ended his goalscoring streak of 21 consecutive league games.
Despite being unfit, Barcelona continued to field him in important games, giving credence to the notion that Barca was over-reliant on their star player.
(Source: BBC Sport)
With the introduction of Suárez and Neymar to the team, Messi regained, arguably, his best form as he finally had teammates with whom to share the goal-scoring load.
He scored, what many consider to be, the greatest of his career in Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao.
He scored another fantastic goal that season against Bayern Munich in the Champion’s League. He chipped the ball over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after dribbling past Jérôme Boateng and making the defender lose his center in the process.
The clip went viral, becoming the year’s most tweeted-about sporting moment, and was named the best goal of the season by UEFA.
(Source: ESPN)
2016 was also the year of the infamous “pass penalty” when Messi assisted Suárez from a penalty kick.
Some saw it as “a touch of genius”, while others criticized it as being disrespectful to the opponent. Celta’s players never complained, and their coach defended the penalty, stating that Barca’s forwards were very respectful.
The penalty routine has been compared to that of Barça icon Johan Cruyff in 1982, who was battling lung cancer. This led many fans to believe that the penalty was a tribute to him. Cruyff himself was “very happy” with the play, insisting “it was legal and entertaining”.
(Source: Sky Sports)
Messi lifted his first title as interim captain when Barca won the 2016 Copa del Rey. Still, his rivalry with CR7 intensified when he lost the Ballon d’Or for the second time to the Portuguese.
He, however, continued to dominate in the goal-scoring department and rack up records. Messi’s career goals tally for Barcelona reached the 500th mark in a 3–2 away win over Real Madrid, marking the occasion with a memorable celebration.
(Source: bein sports)
Lionel Messi’s Champions League stats reached triple digits when he scored his 99th and 100th Champions League goals in a 3–0 home win over Chelsea. That way he became only the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo to reach this landmark.
He also achieved it at a younger age, in fewer appearances, having played fewer minutes, and having taken fewer shots than his Portuguese counterpart.
He received a record fifth Golden Boot that year too.
With the departure of former captain Andrés Iniesta, Messi was named the team’s new permanent captain for the following season.
(Source: sport-English)
He captured his sixth Pichichi Trophy as the league’s top scorer, which is still the all-time record. He also won his sixth Golden Shoe award – yet another record, as it was his third one in a row.
Messi scored two free-kicks – his ninth and tenth goals from set-pieces in the calendar year – in a 4–0 away win over Catalan Derby rivals Espanyol in La Liga. This was the first time ever that he had managed such a feat in a league match.
His first goal was also his 10th league goal of the season, making him the first player ever to reach double figures in La Liga for 13 consecutive seasons.
(Source: The Telegraph)
Messi’s stats this last season have only gotten better. On 13 January 2019, he scored his 400th La Liga goal in his 435th league appearance in a 3–0 home win over Eibar. He became the first player ever to get to this tally in just one of Europe’s top five leagues.
During the course of the year, Messi scored the 50th hat-trick of his career in a run of form, which saw him clinch his first La Liga title as captain. He also captured his sixth Pichichi Trophy as the league’s top scorer, with 36 goals in 34 appearances. With six Pichichi titles, Leo Messi’s statistics put him on equal ground with Telmo Zarra as the player with the most top-scorer awards in La Liga.
Q: Who does Messi play for?
A: Messi has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona.
Q: How many goals has Messi scored?
A: As of 1 March 2020, Lionel Messi’s stats are 696 career goals for both club and country. He’s scored a record 437 goals for Barcelona and 70 goals for Argentina.
Q: Who has more goals, Messi or Ronaldo?
A: As of 1 March 2020, Ronaldo is in the lead with 725 career goals for club and country to Messi’s 696. The caveat here is that Cristiano Ronaldo has played 145 career games more than Leo Messi.
Q: When did Messi start playing soccer?
A: Messi started playing football as early as four years old when he joined the local Argentine club Grandoli. There, he was actually coached by his father.
Q: How many games did Messi play?
A: Lionel Messi stats as of 1 March 2020 show Messi has played a total of 611 career games for club and country, making 473 appearances for Barcelona and 138 appearances for Argentina.
Q: What position does Messi play?
A: Over his illustrious career, Messi has developed into a combination of a number 8 (creator), 9 (scorer), and 10 (assistant).
1. ESPN
2. Bein sports
3. Sky Sports
4. BBC Sport
5. The Daily Telegraph
6. FranceFootball
7. Spear’s Magazine
8. BDFutbol
9. The National
10. The Guardian
11. BDFutbol
12. The Daily Telegraph
13. FranceFootball
14. BBC Sport
15. ESPN
16. Sky Sports
17. BeIn Sports
18. Sport-English
19. The Telegraph
20. GIF Sources – Tenor
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