BY JAKE LEWIS – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
On Tuesday night, Lionel Messi broke Barcelona’s all time scoring record, notching a hat-trick against Granada in a 5-3 win. He has now scored 234 goals since joining the blaugrana in 2004, passing Cesar Rodriguez, who played for the Spanish giants between 1939 and 1955.
That piece of information alone is worth dwelling over. Rodriguez played until he was 35, Leo is only 24.
Have your say: Do you have a great idea for a blog and want to write for Fan Fuel? Email us here. | NFL marches all over Saints
The pace that he is setting is astonishing. Earlier this month he scored five goals in one Champions League match as Barcelona humiliated Bayer Leverkusen of Germany. Nobody had ever scored five goals in a CL match before. Since then he has scored in seven straight games, and eight straight games for club and country combined.
He leads the scoring charts in Spain ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (who in any other era would be the world’s number one player by a margin), having scored 54 goals so far this season. He is poised to break Ronaldo’s (the original Brazilian Ronaldo that is) single season La Liga record for Barcelona, a record he has already equaled.
The records just keep piling up; the superlatives just can’t keep up with the player, much like hundreds of hapless defenders over the past seven years! And it is not just in his scoring prowess that he is great. Every aspect of his attacking play is genius. His touch is sublime, his pace is electric, and his dribbling is mesmerizing. He executes numerous tricks and moves that are copied the world over by kids who see clips of him on YouTube, and seems to add new ones every season. His latest is the “high chip” over the advancing goalie, dropping the ball under the bar, making a save a near impossibility
The winner of World Footballer of the Year for the past three years, and the proud owner of 18 winner’s medals including three CL winner’s medals, Leo is missing only one crowning glory. And it is the failure of Argentina to ignite around him that seems to prevent, in the minds of some observers, Lionel to be honored with the recognition of being the world’s greatest ever footballer.
Well, I think the argument is moot. The players he is compared to simply do not stack up in every other aspect of both their play and their success. Pele and Maradona, undoubtedly great, but not as good as Messi. Puskas, I never saw, and few are left who have, so I will only say he simply did not achieve what Leo has, though he did achieve a lot, so worthy of respect for sure.
Argentina may never win the World Cup, even with Messi in their team, but it doesn’t matter, Leo is the tops!
Related read:
More Hockey: Changing the NHL draft lottery