Messi nets 400th Liga goal

Leo Messi just can’t stop stop breaking records. His 53rd minute goal in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Eibar at the Camp Nou was his four hundredth in La Liga. He’s achieved that in 435 matches, at an incredible average of 0.92 goals per game.

G-O-A-T. No two ways about it.

Way out on top

There is nobody currently playing in La Liga that even comes close to that. Aritz Aduriz’s 157 goals for Athletic Club’s, and in almost as many games as Messi (422) pale into insignificance.

A look at the top five goalscorers in La Liga’s 90 years of history show just how far out he is on top.

• Leo Messi: 400
• Cristiano Ronaldo: 311
• Telmo Zarra: 251
• Hugo Sánchez: 234
• Raúl: 228 

Messi is also the first player to net 400 times in any of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues, having topped Gerd Müller’s 365 for Bayern Munich between 1965 and 1979 and the 357 that Jimmy Greaves got for Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham from 1957 to 1971 some time ago.

In fact, according to UEFA records, there are only three players that have ever scored more goals than Messi in a single national top flight:

• Josef Bican (Czechoslovakia 1931–55): 500
• Jimmy McGrory (Scotland 1922–38): 410
• Stjepan Bobek (Yugoslavia 1945–58): 403 

A first goal remembered

His first goal came on May 1, 2005, in a game against Albacete. Messi, who was only 17 years old, received a pass from Ronaldinho and lobbed the goalkeeper in a move that all Barça supporters remember. It was the pre-cursor to a fabulous goal-laden football career for the Argentine star. After 13 years and 399 goals, Leo has become a unique and unrepeatable player...

Goals of all colours

He may have ‘only’ scored once against Eibar today, but his 400 for Barça have included a staggering 83 braces and 31 hat-tricks. The most amazing thing of all is that there would appear to be plenty more goals where those came from. The GOAT is already limbering up for even more goals against Leganés at the Camp Nou in the next league fix