Records, milestones and heroic goals for the Argentine star of Paris Saint-Germain

Leo Messi He celebrates his thirty-fifth birthday on Friday.

In addition, he is entering the final 12 months of his contract with PSG (although the club has the option to add another year) at what could be a significant period as he begins to wind down his career.

Of course, there is no specific reason to suggest that Messi is considering giving up playing at the highest level, but it stands to reason that given his age and contractual circumstances, there is a possibility that the 2022-23 season will be his last season at the club.A major European club.

So we thought we would celebrate the big day of the Barcelona and Argentina legend by reviewing certain aspects of his amazing career so far; All that he achieved, all that he had left to achieve and even some great milestones he could still reach.

Messi in Paris Saint-Germain 2021-22

Messi arrived in tears at Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021 as a free agent, after Barcelona’s 1.2 billion euros in debt prevented the club from offering him a new five-year contract.

Having represented one team since the age of 13, the move caused a sensation in football with many wondering if a player of Messi’s huge stature would be able to adapt to a new environment after so many years playing his way. .

Although far from low, Messi struggled to match the massive production he produced at Barcelona, ​​as he scored the worst goal-scoring rate in a season during his first campaign in Paris.

Messi scored 11 goals in 34 games in all competitions in 2021-22 and averaged 0.345 goals per 90 minutes for the club, his lowest performance in a portfolio and worst since 2007-08, when he scored a goal percentage of 0.43 every 90 minutes (16 goals in 40 match) in a campaign wracked by injuries for Barcelona.

However, the news was even better in terms of assists, Messi provided 15 assists in all competitions, even though they all came in Ligue 1. This level matches the average number of assists (20 in all competitions) over his career. . Seasons at Camp Nou.

In addition, Messi added a new trophy to his impressive record by winning the Ligue 1 title in his first season, and his 35th main honor in club football.

How Messi and Argentina prepare for the 2022 World Cup

The next big tournament on Messi’s radar is the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for which Argentina qualified without problems, earning their place in the tournament by calculating a 0-0 draw with Brazil in November 2021.

Prior to the CONMEBOL qualifiers against Brazil, Argentina had not lost a single match in 26 matches (an impeccable streak dating back more than two years), and since that match, they have remained undefeated in another six matches until 2022.

In total, Messi and his teammates went 33 matches unbeaten, having lost their last match in July 2019, when they were eliminated in the Copa America semi-finals with a 2-0 loss to the eventual champion, Brazil. By then, Argentina had managed to win the 2021 Copa América – their first major international honor in 28 years – by beating defending champions Brazil 1-0 in the final.

On an individual level, Messi has maintained a very high level of performance for his country, and despite his numbers dropping with Paris Saint-Germain, the striker’s productivity has grown since 2021 in international football. In fact, he has improved his stats per 90 minutes for Argentina in all aspects.

Messi won two major titles for his country (Copa America 2021 and Finalissima 2022) in just 1,769 minutes of football, compared to one title (La Ligue 1 2021-22) in the 5,489 minutes he spent on the field with Paris Saint-Germain last season.

Messi also outdone himself in the number of goals scored in 90 minutes (0.76 for Argentina; 0.64 for PSG), shots on goal (4.6 vs 4.5), dribbling one-on-one (8, 0 vs 6.1), making chances (2.49) vs 2.36 ), up to ball retrieval (3.1 vs. 2.1) and interventions (0.71 vs. 0.49).

Of course, the differences can be explained by the different tactics used by his club and country, but in any case the numbers seem to indicate that Messi enjoys the ball more and is more effective when it comes to shooting, dribbling, creating chances and working without the ball when playing for Argentina.

Your productivity after 35

With most footballers retiring in their mid-30s, it’s understandable that overall productivity begins to decline around that point. But we all know Messi doesn’t fall into the category of “most footballers”, even though very few players since 2010-11 have managed to add a total of 20 or more goals in a single season after turning 35.

During that time, only a select group of six veterans have managed to reach that level in Europe’s top five leagues, and most of them have been doing so in Serie A.

Three players hit 20 goals in a season twice after turning 35: Luca Toni (2013-14, 2014-15), Antonio Di Natale (13-2021, 2014-15) and the man who was once a staunch rival to Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo First with 32 goals for Juventus in 2020-21 and again the following season when he scored 21 goals for Manchester United.

The other players who achieved these numbers were Fabio Quagliarella (34 contributions with Sampdoria in 2018-19), Francesco Totti (24 with Roma in 2012-13), Burak Yilmaz (21 with Lil in 2020-21).

Records he still owns

Messi’s place in football history is already guaranteed, having won 38 major titles since his debut with Barcelona in October 2004.

One player won more titles at the senior level in that period and happens to have played alongside Messi the most time: the Brazilian, Daniel AlvesHe tops 40 titles.

For Messi, the only trophy he has eluded (so far) was the FIFA World Cup, which he came very close to winning with Argentina in 2014, but ended up losing to Germany in the final. Qatar 2022 will likely be their last chance to claim the title.

As for individual records, Messi continues to possess an amount that is unlikely to be exceeded.

They include (but are not limited to these only):

Most official goals for a club: 672 goals for Barcelona.

Most assists in a club: 268, for Barcelona.

Most goals for a club in a season: 73 goals for Barcelona in 2011-12.

– The only player to score more than 40 goals in 12 consecutive seasons and more than 30 goals in 13 consecutive seasons.

Most goals (27), assists (14) and appearances (45) in El Clasico against Real Madrid.

He holds a Guinness World Record for being the best scorer for club and country in a calendar year (91 goals in official matches 2012).

The truth is, these numbers are just the tip of a really huge iceberg.

game

The goalkeeper of the Argentine national team spoke on SportsCenter about the joy of the Rosario star when he lifted the cup at the Maracana stadium against Brazil.

Records/achievements that Messi can still reach

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both close to joining the ultra-exclusive club of 500 league goals, according to records held by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Looking ahead to the 2022-23 season, Messi has scored 480 goals for the club, which puts him behind Cristiano by 17 goals. The 37-year-old Portugal international, with 497 goals, is one hat-trick away from joining Ferenc Puskas (514 goals), Josef Pecan (518) and Romario (544). Peel (604) in the Great Explanations Complex.

In all competitions, Messi has 787 goals and is 13 goals away from joining Cristiano (821) as the only two players in history to have scored 800 goals or more in official matches.

At the international level, Messi has yet to close the gap with his rival, scoring 86 goals for Argentina against 117 goals for Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal – the current world record in men’s football. Iranian Ali Daei (109) is the other footballer to cross the 100.

Today, Lionel Messi turns 35 years old.

A man was born to win the Ballon d’Or pic.twitter.com/UeYnWRCnr1

– ESPN FC (ESPNFC) June 24, 2022

As for the Ballon d’Or, Messi was the second oldest player to win the award in 2021 (aged 34 years and 158 days) and leads the all-time standings with seven medals to his name. Cristiano is his closest rival (5) on that front in the same way he tracks Messi in Europe’s Golden Shoe list (6 vs 4).

Given that Cristiano is two years older than Messi, it is unlikely that he will be able to bridge the gap before hanging up his boots. Having said that, Sir Stanley Matthews was 41 years and 320 days old when he won the inaugural Golden Ball in 1956, so maybe there was time to do it!