- Lionel Messi is arguably the best footballer in the history of mankind
- His other competitor, Cristiano Ronaldo may as well be argued as the best footballer in history
- Messi has now equalled Ronaldo’s European League goals tally in Europe’s top five leagues
On Saturday night, the Lens backline was certainly accommodating as Paris Saint-Germain’s playmaker scampered onto Kylian Mbappe’s brilliant return pass. Messi blasted a precise shot into the far corner while scurrying through the throng of yellow and red to bring his career tally to 495 goals across Europe’s top five divisions.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals in the premier divisions of England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France.
Before heading to Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo made 626 appearances in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A. Messi, on the other hand, required only 572 appearances to match his long-standing adversary, spending around 74 fewer hours on the field to find the net just as frequently.
“I think less and less about scoring goals,” Messi mused in January 2020.
PSG forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Lens in Ligue 1 on Saturday, April 16 2023. | PHOTO: Ligue 1 |
“Obviously I like scoring, and I have a chance I’ll take it, but every time I go on to the pitch I’m less focused on scoring goals and more focused on the game. I’ve never been obsessed with goals.”
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The same, surely, cannot be said of Ronaldo.
Messi claimed that his focus had shifted to that of a facilitator. “I’m starting to step back more and more to be the creator rather than the one who finishes,” he said. Messi has historically been the more prolific assister while matching Ronaldo in front of goal.
Lionel Messi has over 100 more assists than Ronaldo had before joining Al-Nassr in Europe’s top five leagues. As contract negotiations with PSG stagnate, rumours of Messi joining Ronaldo in the Middle East have circulated.
Barcelona is caught in a convoluted financial web, but they are determined to bring Messi back to Camp Nou. Of fact, the vast bulk of Messi’s fans resides in Catalonia.
Messi broke Telmo Zarra’s record of 250 La Liga goals in 2015, when he was only 27 years old, and finished with a staggering 474 in Spain’s top division by the time he tearfully left in the summer of 2021. No player in Europe’s top flight has ever scored as many goals in a single competition as Messi.
After scoring at least 20 league goals in 13 consecutive seasons in Spain’s top division, Lionel Messi has yet to reach that mark in Ligue 1. The 35-year-old’s smooth clip into the bottom corner against Lens brought his tally to a modest 15 – a huge improvement from his debut return of only six goals.
A few years after warning of a decline in his goalscoring, Messi may finally be feeling the pinch of Father Time – especially as he contends with a more physically demanding league. Nevertheless, despite his relative drop-off, Messi can still make opposing defenders look like appeasing siblings wary of a hissy fit.
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