Actually, he's still the top scorer even before these 4 goals. So its like Sonic collecting golds at bonus level.
Looks like there is some controversy on where the assist #s come from and what is being tracked but supposedly Messi first to eclipse 1,000 goal involvements (goals plus assists): 696 goals. 306 assists. Lionel Messi is the first player to ever achieve over 1,000 total goal contributions. 696 goals. ⚽️306 assists. 🅰️Lionel Messi is the first player to ever achieve over 1,000 total goal contributions. 🤯🤩We are not worthy. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/AvdHBq3Nz3— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) February 22, 2020
I hate when some media does this. Messi has 707 official goals at senior level, not 696. First they quote Pele and Müller being over 700 goals (including regional and 7th level), and then suddenly change the methods of counting without even realizing it.
There is no the reason 11 goals from 2nd and 3rd division shouldn't count. They are senior level goals so he has 707 in total.
Still an outside chance for Messi to win the Euro golden shoe. Lewandowski out the next 4 weeks or so, which could mean that Messi will play 6 more league games than Lewa to make up the 8 goal deficit. Of course, there are other players in the chase but Lewa looked to be uncatchable.
I dont think Messi is desperate for that. The closest to his record is penaldo and he only has 4 while Messi has 6. Messi also the only player to win it with 100 points when he scored 50 in 2011-2012 season.
Most goals+assists in Europe's top five leagues since 2017/18:🇦🇷 Lionel Messi🇪🇬 Mohamed Salah🇮🇹 Ciro Immobile🇵🇱 Robert Lewandowski🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo🇺🇾 Luis Suárez🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé🇬🇦 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang🇦🇷 Sergio Agüero🇧🇷 Neymar Jr. pic.twitter.com/HUnvI0v4Lx— Squawka (@Squawka) February 28, 2020
Well maybe not for the full time period in question, but certainly since the start of last season. The only reason Neymar's (goals+assists)/minutes is slightly higher than Mbappe is because of 2017-18 when Mbappe was 18 years old. For last 2 seasons, I reckon Mbappe would be #2 on that overall list for top 5 leagues. (Also fewer minutes played is part of the argument, not an excuse -- you're not gonna be the talk of the town when you're injured while a teammate is scoring for fun).
It's Ligue 1 ... he is going to score for fun regardless of Neymar. PSG are still stacked with or without Neymar in comparison to rest of Ligue 1. Mbappe gets loads of scoring chances and honestly hasn't been a clinical killer in front of the goal. He squanders loads of chances. If Neymar is healthy I think he is still the main guy in that team. But it's a different set of skills between the two. Neymar used to do what Mbappe does for Barca but I don't see Mbappe having the skills to play the deeper role as Neymar does. Although you could argue Neymar is more replaceable than Mbappe. You could have a solid more direct midfield without Neymar and have the same if not better effect.
Crazy to think Messi has 34% more direct goal contributions than the next one, and he's still probably leading dribbles, chances, big chances and through balls too.
Agree with celito that Neymar when healthy is still better than Mbappe because he creates a ton of chances for others. It is close though.
Probably the worst classico performance from Messi. It also shows that our team now complete lack of creativity. No one can create space for Messi and Messi doesnt have anyone to share his work. Hope Suarez recover well and could come back as soon as possible
Messi is also injured - whether he scores 4 goals or not. An injury that doesn’t prevent him from playing but is causing him discomfort. https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/01/barc...imps-off-team-bus-real-madrid-clash-12330058/ He was also touching his thigh constantly during the warm up before the game against Napoli. A camera followed his whole warm up. “Messi is playing 90mins in EVERY game with a thigh injury. There is literally no sub for him at RW. He has to play. So I am not surprised. This Barca Board is arguably the worst one ever, for allowing a big club like this to deplete to the point of running out of players.” 1232629532403884032 is not a valid tweet id Sources at ESPN say Messi has had a left thigh injury since January. “In the beginning of February, the news broke down from reliable sources at ESPN saying that Messi was having some discomfort in his left thigh since weeks now.”
Every player will have the occasional dud even Messi who sucked by his standards against LPB. I don't know if I would say injury is limiting him. In that interview the other day (a few posts back...) he said he hasn't felt this good in years and looked very quick and sharp against Eibar. I think his struggles have to do with good teams throwing the kitchen sink at him taking away his space and making others beat them. And rightfully so... Apart from Messi, none of our other players inspire ANY fear in the opponents. And did you see Messi's heat map from yesterday's match? He spent half of his time in our own half or in the middle of the pitch and had so few touches in general.