Lionel Messi has opened another chapter in the goat debate after he scored his 700th goal for Paris Saint-Germaine in French Ligue 1.
The French champions wave aside their recent poor run and avenged Coup de France exit to Marseille in style.
Despite playing away at the Stade Velodrome, PSG humbled Marseille by three unreplied goals. A quick-fire double in the 25th and 29th minute saw Lionel Messi hit his 700th club goal.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring for the Ligue 1 side before Lionel Messi doubled the lead in the 29th minute before the first-half break.
Kylian Mbappe completed his brace early in the second half to seal the win for the Parisians after they had stumbled against the same opponent in Coup de France.
Lionel Messi hits his 700th club goal
While PSG celebrated a big victory, Lionel Messi flipped open another chapter in the goat debate with his 700th strike.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a milestone in his football career despite struggling at Manchester United under Erik Ten Hag.
He scored his 700th goal against Everton in the Premier League this season. He further increased his tally to 701 goals before leaving Manchester United following a run-in with the club.
Now, Lionel Messi has joined the elite league of the highest goal scorers in club football in Europe after he slotted home Kylian Mbappe’s pass to double the lead for PSG against Marseille on Sunday, February 26.
Before joining PSG from Barcelona, Messi scored 672 goals for the club in almost two decades of his spell with the club.
After an underwhelming start to his PSG career in the French Ligue 1, Messi has now scored his 28th goal for the club, increasing his club tally to a record 700 goals.
Interestingly, pundits will now keep their fingers crossed on who finished with the highest club tally. As things stand, Lionel Messi is just 9 goals away from catching up with Cristiano Ronaldo, who has increased his tally to 709 goals after scoring 8 goals for his new side, Al-Nassr.
Notably, Lionel Messi has hit his 700th club goal in far fewer games than Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Ligue 1 clash against Marseille was his 840th club game, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s 700th strike against Everton in the Premier League was his 943rd club game.
Messi has now hit the record goal tally in 103 games fewer than Ronaldo’s. Meanwhile, both players are on top of their game for their respective clubs.
Lionel Messi scored a stunning freekick to secure victory for PSG in their last game against Lille before the Marseille clash.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 62nd hat-trick after he bagged in all three goals in the first half in Al-Nassr’s win over Damac in the Saudi Pro League.
