Another week, another Lionel Messi milestone. (More Football News)
The Barcelona forward has scored his 700th career goal just a little over two years since reaching 600 for club and country.
It's another remarkable feat for a footballer who continues to break new ground after turning 33.
Here, we look at the details behind the incredible numbers to see when, where and how he tends to find the net, who likes to set him up, and who is sick of the sight of him...
FOR BARCELONA:
- Messi has scored 630 goals in 724 appearances for Barca in all competitions - that's 0.87 per game on average.
- His first goal came on May 1, 2005 against Albacete in LaLiga. Since then, he has reached 441 goals in 480 matches in Spain's top flight, at least 130 more than any other player in history.
- He has scored 114 goals in the Champions League, 53 in the Copa del Rey, 14 in the Supercopa de Espana, three in the UEFA Super Cup, and five in the Club World Cup.
FOR ARGENTINA:
- Messi has scored 70 senior international goals. His first came on March 1, 2006 in a friendly against Croatia, and his most recent was in a friendly last November against Uruguay.
- He has scored 34 goals in international friendlies, 21 in World Cup qualifiers, nine at the Copa America, and six at the World Cup.
PER YEAR:
- In each of the past 11 calendar years, Messi has scored at least 40 goals for club and country. In nine of the last 10, he has reached at least 50.
- His best record in a single year came in 2012, when he scored 91, breaking the previous record of 85 held by Germany great Gerd Muller. He already has 12 in 2020, despite the COVID-19 disruption.
HIS FAVOURITE OPPONENT:
- Messi has scored 37 goals in 39 games against Sevilla in all competitions. Next up are Atletico Madrid (32 in 41 games).
- He has managed 26 in 43 games against Real Madrid, making him the all-time top goalscorer in Clasico history.
- Messi has faced 40 different LaLiga teams and scored at least once against 37 of them. Last November, he became the first player to score against 34 different Champions League opponents, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul on 33.
HIS LEAST FAVOURITE OPPONENT:
- Only three LaLiga teams have ever avoided conceding a goal to Messi: Xerez, Real Murcia and Cadiz.
- Xerez are the only team Messi has faced more than once without scoring. He has played against them twice.
WHEN AND HOW HE SCORES:
- Messi has scored 43.32 per cent of his goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half or last 15 minutes of the second.
- He has scored 142 times from set-pieces: 90 penalties and 52 free-kicks.
- Only 24 of his career goals are headers. The most recent was back in March 2017 against Sporting Gijon.
- Messi has scored 83.1 per cent of his goals (582) with his left foot, and 82.8 per cent (580) from inside the box.
- He has scored 36 LaLiga hat-tricks, which is a record. He has scored three or more times in 54 different matches, the most being five against Bayer Leverkusen in March 2012.
- His tally of 50 for the 2011-12 LaLiga season is a record.
WHO SETS HIM UP:
- Luis Suarez has assisted more Messi goals than any other player: 47 in six seasons with Barcelona. Messi has returned the favour 36 times. (CHECK WHO SETS UP ATHLETIC GOAL)
- The other players with the most assists for Messi are Dani Alves (42), Andres Iniesta (37), Xavi (31), Pedro (25), Neymar (22) and Jordi Alba (20).
- Messi has 247 assists for Barca. Since his first goal for the club, he has been involved in 879 of their 2,183 goals in all competitions, or 40.2 per cent.
