Lionel Messi's records and stats ahead of his 500th Barcelona appearance
4-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi is expected to be in the starting line-up for FC Barcelona’s La Liga clash against Real Betis today, which will be his 500th appearance for FC Barcelona.
On October 16 2004, the Argentinian made his debut for the Blauguranas. Ever since, he has mesmerised the fans and 11 years after his debut, is about to turn up for the Spanish giants for a record 500th time.
Here are his records and statistics for Barcelona:
Appearances: 499
Goals: 424
Assists: 159
Hat-tricks: 32
Trophies won: 7x La Liga, 4x Champions League, 3x Copa del Rey, 3x Club World Cup, 3x UEFA Super Cup
Here is the list of the World records in Leo’s name:
- He is the only player to ever win all – Ballon d’Or, FIFA World Player, Pichichi and Golden Shoe in the same season (2009/10).
- He has the longest scoring run in La Liga – 21 consecutive games in the 2012/13 season where he scored a massive 33 goals.
- The 28-year old forward holds the record for being the top goalscorer in a calendar year: 96 goals in 2012 – 84 for Barça (59 in the Liga, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Spanish Cup, 2 in the Spanish Supercup and 5 in friendly matches) and 12 for Argentina.
- He is also the youngest three-time winner of the Ballon d’Or in January 2012 – 24 years, 6 months and 17 days.
Here is the list of European records he has amassed:
- The diminutive forward is the youngest player ever to score 400+ goals for a single European club – 27 years and 300 days.
- He has the highest number of League goals in a calendar year – 50 goals in 2011/12 season.
- He also has the most hat-tricks in UEFA Champions League – 5 hat-tricks.
- Messi also holds the record for being the leading goalscorer over a season in home league games – 35 goals in 2011/12.
- The Argentinian also holds the record for most goals scored in the El Clásico matches – 21 goals.
- He is the first Barcelona player to surpass 50 goals in 4 seasons – 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2014/15.