Lionel Messi surpasses Cristiano Ronaldo and Pele to break yet another goal-scoring record
Former Barcelona captain and PSG superstar Lionel Messi has now become the player with the most non-penalty goals in football.
The legendary striker scored in Paris-Saint Germain’s 1-0 win over Lyon to take his tally to 672 non-penalty goals, surpassing Pele and Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 671 goals.
The 34-year-old, who was rightly adjudged as the Man of the Match on Sunday night, achieved the feat while playing 150 games fewer than his Portuguese counterpart.
The Argentina international found the back of the net with a cheeky finish from the box. Interestingly enough, two former Barcelona players combined for the goal as Neymar provided his eighth assist of the season in all competitions to set Messi up.
Nevertheless, the Portugal captain still leads the goalscoring charts when it comes to club football, with the 37-year-old tallying 699 goals in 941 club appearances, which have come for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Messi, on the other hand, has so far scored 689 goals, albeit in just 823 appearances for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
Furthermore, when it comes to playing against each other, the two legends of modern-day football have faced off against one another in a total of 35 games across all competitions.
During these outings, while Ronaldo has scored 20 goals and has provided a solitary assist, Messi has bagged 21 goals while providing an impressive 12 assists.
Messi’s form in the ongoing Ligue 1 season has been impressive, to say the very least. Unlike Ronaldo, who is even failing to get a place in Manchester United’s starting XI under Erik ten Hag, the Argentine has so far tallied six goals across all competitions in just 11 games.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner had recently broken another record when he scored in the UEFA Champions League clash against Maccabi Haifa to become the first-ever footballer to score a goal in 18 consecutive seasons in the competition.
Now, he has gone on to add another impressive record to his name, with his strike against Lyon on Sunday night.
