Barcelona talisman, Lionel Messi may not be at his best so far this season but he has hit a landmark by scoring his 643rd goal for Barcelona during their 2-2 draw against Valencia on Saturday, breaking the record of Brazilian legend, Pele.
His header against Los murciélagos was his 450th La Liga goal in 498 appearances for Barcelona.
Such a record is the record number of goals for a single club. On reaching this milestone, the 33-year-old Argentine scored his first goal for Barca in 2005 against Albacete.
It could be recalled that Pele scored 643 goals in 19 seasons for Brazilian side Santos between 1956 and 1974.
Messi’s celebrations will likely be muted due to Barca’s failure to get maximum points against their mid-table opponents. The result leaves the Catalan club in the fifth position on the log, four points behind the last Champions League spot occupied by Villareal and eight points behind Atletico Madrid, who earlier defeated Elche 3-1 to move to 29 points.
Pele lauds Lionel Messi for breaking his club record
Meanwhile, Pele has congratulated Messi for the latest feat, expressing his admiration for the six times world footballer of the year.
“When your heart overflows with love, it is difficult to change your path. Like you, I know what it’s like to love wearing the same shirt every day. Like you, I know that there is nothing better than the place we feel at home. Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at @fcbarcelona. Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately, will be increasingly rare in football. I admire you a lot, @leomessi,” he wrote on his Instagram page.
What is does Messi need to win to match Pele’s feat
Having won all club trophies with Barcelona, two trophies have been evading Messi – the Copa America and the FIFA world cup.
The talisman had on two occasions lost two finals to Chile in the Copa America and Argentina couldn’t overcome Germany in the final of the 2014 World Cup.
Having been closed to these successes, can it be said that this will be missing in the cabinet of the 33-year-old? a definite yes.
Not too long ago, some records were thought to be untouchable. Then came Leo #Messi pic.twitter.com/sbRwouPF1H
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 20, 2020
Although recently, he has been impressive for Argentina during the international break after returning to the team, those two important titles can be a great achievement for an all-round player of Messi’s stature.
His direct competitor, Cristiano Ronaldo has just the FIFA world cup missing in his cabinet having experienced success with both club and country.
Winning the World cup especially gives a country an opportunity to go for FIFA confederations cup. Knowing fully well that even winning the Copa America with Argentina will take him there, it is important that he wins at least one of them as he continues to age.
The last opportunity to win these titles is just next year when the Copa America will start while the FIFA Conferedaraton is expected to start as well a few weeks before the proper world cup.
This means Messi has the chance to win two trophies with the national team next year. It is therefore he take this last opportunity as he might have the chance to feature in the next one when he would be around 38 when the 2026 world cup will be held especially.
