Leo Messi: 5 years after beating Zarra

Friday marks five years since Leo Messi made history. Yet again. On 22 November 2014, the Argentinian netted his 253rd goals in the league to surpass the legendary Telmo Zarra’s tally of 252.

It was a record that most people assumed was impossible to break in modern football. But a hat-trick against Sevilla at the Camp Nou did the trick.

But that was only start of it. He was only 27 years old at the time, and in the five years that have followed he has continued to add goals at a stratospheric rate. He has scored another 174 times in La Liga since to lift his total up to a humungous 427. That’s more than one goal per game.

Astonishingly, he is just 78 goals away from DOUBLING Zarra’s previous record. Simply out of this world!

Teams against which Messi has scored most goals

Sevilla (29)
Valencia / Atlético Madrid (24)
Espanyol (22)
Levante / Osasuna (21)
Deportivo (20)
Betis (19)
Real Madrid (18)

Top goalscorers in La Liga (last five years)

Leo Messi (174)
Luis Suárez (137)
Cristiano Ronaldo (114)
Antoine Griezmann (95)
Iago Aspas (79)
Karim Benzema (78)

Before and after

Before beating Zarra’s record
Scored 157 out of 289 games (54.33%)
After beating Zarra’s record
111 goals in 170 goals (65.3%)