Messi: More records for the collection
Leo Messi paraded his sixth Ballon d’Or trophy before the game with Mallorca and immediately set to work on winning his seventh with yet another headline-grabbing display. He supplied three of the goals in a 5-2 win and that means it’s time for our almost weekly update on the latest additions to his remarkable record collection.
1- 35 Liga hat-tricks!
His two free kicks and one penalty against Celta equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 34 Liga hat-tricks, and if that was a master-class in dead ball play, today brought a trio of goals from open play to set a new all-time record of a staggering 35 three-goal displays. In between, of course, he scored the winner at the Wanda at collected another Ballon d’Or trophy. The best just gets better...
2- Pichichi with 12 goals!
He’s top scorer in La Liga despite missing five games through injury...
12 goals - Lionel Messi
11 - Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
8 – Luis Suárez, Loren Morón (Betis), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal) and Lucas Pérez (Alavés)
3- 14 years in double figures
Messi has now gone for a remarkable fourteen seasons with at least ten league goals, something nobody else has achieved in Europe’s five biggest national championships.
4- The best... by far!
He now has seven league goals from outside the area this season, also putting him ahead of anyone else in Europe’s big five. Nainggolan (Cagliari) and Sabitzer (Leipzig) are next in line with ‘just’ four each.
