6 records that Lionel Messi can break or equal in the 2018-19 season
Since making his debut in 2005, Lionel Messi has mesmerised, awestruck and brought joy to not only Barcelona and Argentina fans, but even rival fans - such has been the impact that he has had on the game.
The little Argentinian has been an integral part of one of the greatest football teams of all-time, moulded by coach Pep Guardiola. Messi has helped - sometimes singlehandedly - his club side Barcelona to numerous trophies and created new records that may never be broken.
His rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest in football - nay any sport - and those that have watched the two duel it out week after week, competition after competition, will remember it for eternity.
Also Read: 5 records that Cristiano Ronaldo can break or equal by the end of 2018-19 season
The duo have also bettered each other and pushed each other to go where no footballer has gone before - breaking records, making new ones, and wowing every football fan.
Going into the 2018-19 season, here are a few records that Lionel Messi could break at the end of the season.
#1 Most hat-tricks in La Liga - 35
In his 14 seasons for Barcelona, Lionel Messi has scored an incredible 40 hat-tricks in all competitions for the Catalan club. His first hat-trick couldn't have come at a better time and opposition: Real Madrid. Barcelona were trailing thrice and the Argentine equalised each time to end the game with scores 3-3.
But in La Liga, it isn't Messi who has the most hat-tricks, but his arch nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 34 hat-tricks in the league for Real Madrid.
Messi, currently, stands on 30 hat-tricks in the league, and it wouldn't be impossible for the little magician to score five or more hat-tricks in a season to better Ronaldo's record. For the naysayers who feel that scoring five or more hat-tricks in a season is an impossible task, Messi did so previously, in the 2011–12, where he scored 8 hat-tricks in a single La Liga season!