Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi Cuccittini (
Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine
footballer who plays as a
forward for
La Liga club
FC Barcelona and the
Argentina national team. He serves as the captain of his country's national football team. By the age of 21, Messi had received
Ballon d'Or and
FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2009, he won his first
Ballon d'Or and
FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He followed this up by winning the inaugural
FIFA Ballon d'Or in
2010, and then again in
2011 &
2012. He also won the 2010–11
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. At the age of 24, Messi became Barcelona's all-time top scorer in all official club competitions. At age 25, Messi became the youngest player to score 200
La Liga goals.
Widely recognised as the best player in the world and rated by many commentators, coaches, experts and players as the greatest footballer of all time,
[3][4][5][6][7] [8][9][10][11][12] Messi is the first football player in history to win four
FIFA/
Ballon d'Or – all of which he won consecutively – as well as the first to win three
European Golden Shoe awards. Messi has won six
La Ligas, two
Copas del Rey, five
Supercopas de España, three
UEFA Champions Leagues, two
Super Cups and two
Club World Cups. In March 2012, Messi made Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match. He also matched
José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single
Champions League season. Messi became the first player to top-score in four successive Champions League campaigns. Messi set the European record for most goals scored in a season during the 2011–12 season, with 73 goals. In the
same season, he set the current goalscoring record in a single
La Liga season, scoring 50 goals. On 16 February 2013, Messi scored his 300th Barcelona goal. On 30 March 2013, Messi scored in his 19th consecutive La Liga game, becoming the first footballer in history to net in consecutive matches against every team in a professional football league. Messi later extended his record scoring streak to 21 consecutive league matches. The run ultimately came to a halt in a match against
Atlético Madrid in which he had to leave play due to a hamstring injury.
Messi helped
Argentina win the
2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing as both the best player and the top scorer (with 6 goals). In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the
FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the
Copa América tournament the following year, in which he was elected young player of the tournament. In
2008, he won his first international honour, an Olympic Gold Medal, with the
Argentina Olympic football team.
SportsPro has rated Lionel Messi as the second-most marketable athlete in the world. His playing style and stature have drawn comparisons to compatriot
Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his "
successor".
[13]
Early life
Messi was born in
Rosario,
Santa Fe Province, to parents Jorge Horácio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner.
[14][15][16][17] His paternal family originates from the Italian city of
Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883.
[18][19] He has two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and a sister, María Sol.
[20] At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge.
[21] In 1995, Messi switched to
Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.
[21] He became part of a local youth powerhouse that lost only one match in the next four years and became locally known as "The Machine of '87", from the year of their birth.
[22]
At the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with a
growth hormone deficiency.
[23] Local powerhouse
River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but were not willing to pay for treatment for his condition, which cost $900 a month.
[17] Carles Rexach, the sporting director of
FC Barcelona, was made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in
Lleida in western
Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial with the team.
[17] Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin.
[24][25] Barcelona offered to pay Messi's medical bills on the condition that he moved to Spain. Messi and his father duly moved to Barcelona, where Messi enrolled in the
club's youth academy.
[21][25]
Club career
Barcelona
Messi played in Barcelona's junior Infantil B and Cadete B & A teams from 2000 to 2003 (scoring 37 goals in 30 matches in Cadete A). He was nearly released from the club in 2003 because of financial constraints, but his youth coaches convinced management to keep him (
Cesc Fabregas was released during this purge).
[26] Season 2003–04 saw him on a record
[27] five different teams: He started one match in Juvenil B (one goal) and got promoted to Juvenil A (14 matches, 21 goals). Later he debuted for
FC Barcelona C team (
Tercera División) on 29 November 2003 and for
FC Barcelona B (
Segunda División B) on 6 March 2004. He played for both teams during the season (ten matches, five goals and five matches, zero goals, respectively).
[28][29][30] Even before these two debuts, Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a
friendly match against
Porto.
[32]
Less than a year after his start,
Frank Rijkaard gave him his league debut against
RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga, which would be broken by
Bojan Krkić in September 2007. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against
Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona
[33] until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist.
[34] Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen."
[35] During the season, Messi played also in Barcelona B (
Segunda División B) scoring 6 goals in 17 matches.
2005–06 season
On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract; this time it was improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014.
[21] Messi obtained Spanish
citizenship on 26 September 2005
[36] and was finally able to make his debut in
the season's
Spanish First Division. Messi's first home outing in the
Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club
Udinese. Fans at Barcelona's stadium, the
Camp Nou, gave Messi a standing ovation upon his
substitution, as his composure on the ball and passing combinations with
Ronaldinho had paid dividends for Barcelona.
[37]
Messi netted six goals in 17 league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against
Chelsea.
[38] Rijkaard's Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.
[39][40]
2006–07 season
Messi in a match against
Rangers in 2007
In the
2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches. On 12 November, in the game against
Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken
metatarsal, ruling him out for three months.
[42][43] On 10 March,
El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a
hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw,
equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in
injury time.
[44] In doing so he became the first player since
Iván Zamorano (for
Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in
El Clásico.
[45] Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season came from the last 13 games.
[46]
Messi shortly before scoring a goal against Getafe
Messi also proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by nearly replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season.
[47] On 18 April 2007, he scored two goals during a
Copa del Rey semi-final against
Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's
famous goal against
England at the
1986 World Cup in Mexico, known as the
Goal of the Century.
[48] The world's sports press drew comparisons with Maradona, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona".
[49] He ran about the same distance, 62 metres (203 ft), beat the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before.
[47] In a press conference after the game, Messi's team-mate
Deco said: "It was the best goal I have ever seen in my life."
[50] Against
RCD Espanyol Messi also scored a goal which was remarkably similar to
Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England in the World Cup quarter-finals. Messi launched himself at the ball and connected with his hand to guide the ball past the goalkeeper
Carlos Kameni.
[51] Despite protests by Espanyol players and replays showing it was clear
handball, the goal stood.
[51] During his time at
FC Barcelona, manager
Frank Rijkaard decided to move Messi from the left flank onto the right wing, initially against the player's wishes, allowing him to cut into the centre of the pitch and shoot or cross with his left foot.
[52]
2007–08 season
Messi takes Barcelona to 2–0 against Sevilla at
Camp Nou on 22 September 2007
On 27 February, Messi played in his 100th official match for Barcelona against
Valencia CF.
[53]
Messi was nominated for a
FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward.
[54] A poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper
Marca had him as the best player in the world with 77 percent of the vote.
[55] Columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers
El Mundo Deportivo and
Sport stated that the
Ballon d'Or should be given to Messi, a view supported by
Franz Beckenbauer.
[56] Football personalities such as
Francesco Totti have declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.
[57] Messi finished third in the
2007 Ballon d'Or, behind
Kaká and
Cristiano Ronaldo, and finished second in the
2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award, once again behind Kaká. He also came in third in the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker Award, once again behind Kaká and
Andrea Pirlo.
[58]
Messi was sidelined for six weeks following an injury on 4 March when he suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against
Celtic FC. It was the fourth time in three seasons that Messi suffered this type of injury.
[59] Messi scored 6 goals and provided 1 assist during the Champions League that season, as Barcelona were knocked out in the semi-finals, to the eventual winners
Manchester United. When the season was over Messi had managed to score 16 goals and assisted 13 times in all competitions.
2008–09 season
Upon
Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey.
[60] During this season he placed second in the
2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points and third in the 2008 IFFHS World's Best Playmaker Award for the second consecutive year.
[61]
Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a
Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1.
[62] Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal.
[63] On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against
Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition.
[64]
As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the
Santiago Bernabéu[65] in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930.
[66] He won his first
Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over
Athletic Bilbao.
[67] He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals.
[68] Messi also won the
UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe.
[69] This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey,
La Liga and Champions League in the one season,
[70] and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the
treble.
[71] Messi finished the season with 38 goals and 18 assists in all competitions.
2009–10 season
After winning the
2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager
Pep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen.
[72] This would also be the season in which Guardiola would first move Messi from the position of
right winger into his now iconic "
false-9" role in the centre of the front line at Barcelona.
[73] On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, then along with
Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly.
[74][75]
Messi was named winner of the
2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up
Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233.
[76][77][78] He also placed 2nd in the 2009 IFFHS World's Best Playmaker Award.
[79] behind team mate
Xavi Hernández.
On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the
2009 Club World Cup against
Estudiantes in
Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year.
[80] Two days later, he was given the
FIFA World Player of the Year award, beating
Cristiano Ronaldo,
Xavi,
Kaká and
Andrés Iniesta.
[81] This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinian to ever receive this honour.
[82] On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first
hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against
CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory,
[83] and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over
Sevilla FC.
[84]
Messi scored a hat-trick against
Valencia CF in a 3–0 home win,
[85] and finally he scored another hat-trick against
Real Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win,
[86] becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga.
[87] He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against
CA Osasuna on 24 March 2010.
[88]
On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi's career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over
Arsenal in the
Champions League quarter-final second leg.
[89][90] This also saw him overtake
Rivaldo as Barcelona's all time greatest scorer in the competition.
[91] In the final league match of the season against Valladolid, he scored two goals in the second half to tie
Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a single league season, set in
1996–97,
[92][93] and to finish four goals behind the all-time record held by
Telmo Zarra.
[94] He was named La Liga
player of the year for the second year in a row on 3 June 2010.
[95] He finished the season with 47 goals in all competitions, tying
Ronaldo's record from the
1996–97 season, and he provided 11 assists.
[96]
2010–11 season
On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over
Sevilla FC in the
Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss.
[97]
On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by
Atlético Madrid defender
Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the
Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.
[98] Team-mate
David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt".
[99] The incident caused widespread media attention and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game.
Against
UD Almería Messi scored his second hat-trick of the season in an impressive 8–0 away win, the second of which was his 100th
La Liga goal.
[100]
Messi playing against
Real Madrid in a Champions League match
Messi won the
2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Iniesta.
[101] Messi had been nominated for the awards for the fourth consecutive year.
[102] On 5 February, Barcelona broke the record for most consecutive league wins with 16 victories after they defeated Atlético Madrid 3–0 at the Camp Nou.
[103] Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to ensure the victory for his side and after the match he stated, "it's an honor to be able to pass a record set by a great like
Di Stéfano" and "if the record has been around for so long is because it's very complicated to achieve and we have reached it by defeating a very difficult team who's going through a bad situation, which makes it even more difficult."
[104]
After failing to score for a month he scored a brace against
UD Almería; the second goal was his 47th of the season, equalling his club record return of the previous season.
[105] He surpassed his record on 12 April 2011 by scoring the winner against
Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League game, which put him in the record book as all time top scorer in a single season for Barcelona.
[106] He scored his eighth goal on
El Clásico on a 1–1 tie at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. On 23 April, Messi scored his 50th goal of the season against
CA Osasuna in a 2–0 home victory which he came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.
[107] He finished the season by winning La Liga and scoring 31 goals as he finished runner-up in the
Pichichi trophy to
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had managed to score 40. Messi finished the league season as the top assist provider with 18 assists.
On 20 April, Barcelona were defeated by arch-rivals Real Madrid in the
2011 Copa del Rey Final. Messi set up a goal for Pedro, which was however ruled offside. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match in extra time. Messi was however the joint top-scorer of the tournament along with Cristiano Ronaldo, with 7 goals.
[108][109][109]
In the first leg of the
Champions League semi-finals, he gave a memorable performance, scoring twice against
Real Madrid in a 2–0 win, the second goal (a dribble past several players) being acclaimed as one of the best ever at that stage of the competition.
[110][111] At the
Champions League Final at
Wembley, Messi scored the eventual game-clinching goal to give Barcelona their third title in six years and fourth overall.
[112] This was also Messi's 12th goal in the Champions League that season, which allowed him to tie
Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record of 12 goals in a single European Cup season, after it was re-established as the
UEFA Champions League, in 1992.
[109] The overall record of goals scored in a single European Cup Season, is
José Altafini's record of 14 goals, which Messi did however equal in the following season.
[109] Messi finished the 2010–11 season with 53 goals and 24 assists in all competitions combined.
2011–12 season
Messi started the season by lifting the
Spanish Supercup with Barcelona, scoring three goals and providing two assists in a 5–4 aggregate win against
Real Madrid.
[113] His vital interventions continued in the next official match played against
Porto when he scored again following a weak back pass from
Fredy Guarín before setting up
Cesc Fàbregas to give Barcelona a 2–0 victory and the
UEFA Super Cup,
[114] then the only official competition that remained for him to score in.
[115]
After scoring his first goal of an eventual hat-trick in an 8–0 rout against
CA Osasuna, Messi produced a special celebration for Soufian, a 10-year-old Moroccan boy with Laurin Sandrow syndrome, a rare medical condition that can eventually lead to the loss of the lower extremities. Whilst Messi usually points to the sky after scoring a goal, Messi slapped his thighs as a dedication to Soufian.
[116]
In August, Messi became the
second highest goalscorer surpassing
László Kubala on 194 goals, being behind only to
César Rodríguez on 232 goals in all official competitions.
[117]
On 28 September, Messi scored his first two
Champions League goals of the season against
BATE Borisov,
[118] becoming Barcelona's second highest goalscorer in its history, tying
László Kubala, at 194 goals in all official competitions.
[119] He surpassed that record when he scored two goals against
Racing Santander.
[120] He became second in Barcelona's La Liga goalscorers list with 132 goals, one more than Kubala.
[121] He scored his 200th Barcelona goal and two more as part of a hat-trick in his next game against
Viktoria Plzeň in the Champions League.
[122]
Messi scored a brace in the
Club World Cup Final against
Santos FC and was recognized as the
man of the match and also awarded the
Golden Ball for his performance during the tournament.
[123]
Messi won the 2011
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, beating his
FC Barcelona team-mate
Xavi Hernández and
Real Madrid's
Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi won the
2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, again beating his team-mate Xavi and Cristiano Ronaldo. By winning the
FIFA Ballon d'Or again, Messi become the fourth player to win three Ballon d'Ors, after
Johan Cruyff,
Michel Platini and
Marco Van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballon d'Ors, after
Michel Platini (although two of his Ballon d'Ors are FIFA Ballon d'Ors, which he won consecutively). Messi also won the IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer award, with 19 goals in 2011.
[124]
On 19 February 2012, Messi, on his 200th
La Liga appearance, scored four goals against
Valencia CF in a 5–1 win.
[125] On 7 March, Messi became the first player to score five goals in an UEFA Champions League match since the tournament's re-establishment in 1992, helping the defending champions Barcelona win 7–1 against
Bayer Leverkusen.
[126]
On 20 March, Messi scored three goals against
Granada, making him
FC Barcelona's leading goalscorer in official competitions, surpassing club legend
César Rodríguez, who had previously held the record with 232.
[127]
On 3 April, Messi scored two goals from penalty kicks against Milan in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final, allowing him to surpass his personal record, joint with Ruud van Nistelrooy, of 12 goals in a single UEFA Champions League season. These goals allowed him to tie José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single European Cup season in the 1962–63 season, before the tournament's re-establishment as the UEFA Champions League in 1992.
[109] Messi was unable to score in the semi-finals, although he provided an assist in the second leg, as Barcelona were knocked out to eventual winners
Chelsea. During the second leg match, Messi missed an important penalty, hitting the crossbar. The goal would have put Barcelona ahead on aggregate.
On 11 April, Messi scored his 61st goal of the season against
Getafe CF, and made two assists.
[128] On 2 May, Messi scored a hat-trick against
Málaga CF surpassing
Gerd Müller's record (67 goals in 1972–73) with 68 goals, and thus becoming the best goalscorer in history in one season in Europe.
[129] It was the 21st multi-goal game of the season for Messi and his seventh
La Liga hat-trick.
[130] He then scored four goals on 5 May against
RCD Espanyol to take his tally to an unprecedented 72 goals, in the process becoming only the second player to pass 70 goals in a first division season since
Archie Stark of
Bethlehem Steel in the
American Soccer League in 1924–25.
[131]
On 25 May, he scored again in the
2012 Copa del Rey Final, helping Barcelona win their 26th Spanish Cup title, and increasing his seasonal goalscoring record to an unmatched 73 goals in all competitions.
[132][133]This was also Guardiola's last match as Barcelona's manager, and the Cup win marked Messi's second Copa del Rey title, after losing the final the year before, as well as his 14th Barcelona trophy during Guardiola's four seasons at the club. Although Barcelona failed to win their 4th consecutive Liga title under Guardiola, finishing runners up to arch-rivals Real Madrid, Messi finished the 2011–12 season as the top goalscorer in La Liga for a second time, with a Liga record of 50 goals. He was the second best assist provider in La Liga that season with 16 assists, after
Mesut Özil, who managed 17. He also ended the season as the UEFA Champions' League Top Scorer for a fourth consecutive time, with 14 goals.
[132] He was one of the top assist providers of the
tournament with 5 assists and finished the season with 73 goals and 29 assists in all club competitions, with more goals and assists than any other player.
2012–13 season
During Barcelona's first game of the season against
Real Sociedad, Messi continued his goalscoring run with a brace in a 5–1 win at the
Camp Nou. Messi added another goal from a penalty in a 3–2 win against rivals
Real Madrid in the first leg of the
2012 Supercopa de España in
Barcelona on 23 August.
[134] He added another brace against
CA Osasuna as Barcelona came from behind away from home to beat them 2–1. Messi added another goal from a free kick in the second leg of the Supercopa de España, as Barcelona, down to ten men, were defeated by Real Madrid on away goals.
[135] This marked his 15th goal in the
Clasico Real Madrid-Barcelona derby, which made him Barcelona's top scorer in Clasico matches, putting him tied with
Raúl, behind only
Alfredo Di Stefano, with 18 goals.
[136][137] Messi placed second along with Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2012
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, with 17 votes each. The award was won by Messi's Barcelona team mate
Andrés Iniesta.
[138] In his third league appearance on 2 September against
Valencia CF, Messi assisted the only goal of the match, by team mate Adriano, from a short corner.
[139] Messi scored two more goals in a win against Getafe on 15 September
[140] and added another brace in his first
Champions League match of the season against
Spartak Moscow on 20 September, ending in a 3–2 win to Barcelona, also marking his tenth goal of the season.
[141]
On 11 November, Messi scored twice at
RCD Mallorca, his 75th and 76th goals in 2012, surpassing
Pelé's milestone of 75 goals (1958) in a calendar year, and moved within nine of German legend
Gerd Müller's all-time
Guinness World Records title.
[142] His 77th and 78th goals came against
Real Zaragoza at
Camp Nou which moved Messi seven goals away from the record.
[143] On 20 November, Messi scored twice at
Spartak Moscow, his 79th and 80th goals of 2012 and moved to within five goals of the record.
[144] Messi continued his scoring run against
Levante UD on 25 November with his 81st and 82nd goals of the year which moved him within three goals of Müller.
[145] On 1 December, Messi scored twice against
Athletic Bilbao, his 83rd and 84th goals of the year, meaning he pulled to within one goal of Müller's record set in 1972. The two goals also meant Messi equaled
Barcelona's all time leading goalscoring record in La Liga, which was held by
César Rodríguez with 190 goals.
[146] On 9 December, Messi scored twice against
Real Betis, his 85th and 86th goals in 2012, surpassing Müller's milestone of 85 goals scored in a calendar year in 1972 with
Bayern Munich and the
German national team, as well as surpassing Rodríguez's record for most league goals for Barcelona.
[147][148] On 12 December, Messi increased his record to 88, after scoring twice against
Córdoba CF in the first leg of a
Copa del Rey game. Messi then sent an autographed
Barcelona shirt to Müller in acknowledgement of beating his record.
[149] On 16 December, Messi scored twice in a 4–1 Barcelona victory against
Atlético Madrid, increasing his record to 90 goals.
[150] The tally found its end at 91 goals in a year after Messi scored once against
Real Valladolid. FIFA, however, refuses to acknowledge the record for the most goals in a calendar year, citing verifiability issues.
[151]
On 18 December 2012, it was announced that Barcelona would renew the contract of Messi, extending it until 30 June 2018.
[152] The contract was signed 7 February 2013.
[153]
On 7 January 2013 odds-on favourite
[154] Messi won the
2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or, again beating Cristiano Ronaldo into second place with team-mate
Andrés Iniesta third. In doing this, Messi became the only player in history to win the Ballon d'Or four times.
[155] Messi described receiving the accolade as "really quite unbelievable" and "too great for words".
[156] The achievement fuelled media comparison of Messi with former greats of the sport such as
Diego Maradona and
Pelé.
[157][158]
On 27 January 2013, Messi scored 4 goals in a 5–1 win against Osasuna, including his 200th goal in
La Liga, becoming the 8th player and the youngest player to do so.
[159] This brought his La Liga tally for the season up to 33, and his goalscoring total to 44 goals in all competitions. On 16 February 2013, Messi scored his 300th Barcelona goal the La Liga match against
Granada CF, later scoring again in the match to bring his tally to 301 goals in 365 official matches.
[160][161][162] On 2 March 2013, Messi scored a goal against Real Madrid in a match that Barcelona lost 2–1. With that goal, Lionel Messi equalled
Alfredo Di Stefano's Clasico goals record of 18.
[163] On 9 March 2013, Messi scored after coming on as a substitute against
Deportivo de La Coruña, scoring in his 17th consecutive league match and breaking the all-time world record.
[164] Messi's record goalscoring run of 33 goals in 21 games ended against Atletico Madrid.
[165]
On 12 March, Messi scored two goals, and helped create the fourth, to help Barcelona defeat
A.C. Milan (4–0) in the 2nd leg of their Champions League game and reach the quarter-finals.
[166] With these goals, he became the 2nd all-time top scorer in the UEFA Champions League, excluding qualifying rounds.
[167] Messi's opening goal against Milan once again drew further comparisons between himself and
Diego Armando Maradona, due to the similarity between Messi's opening goal of the match and Maradona's famous goal against
Greece in the
1994 World Cup.
[168] On 17 March 2013, in a match against
Rayo Vallecano, Messi wore the
captain's armband for the first time in an official match for Barcelona, taking over after
Andrés Iniesta was substituted.
[169] On 30 March, Messi scored for the 19th consecutive La Liga game, netting Barcelona's second goal at
Celta de Vigo and thus becoming the first footballer in La Liga's history to score in consecutive matches against every team.
[170]
On 2 April 2013, after scoring a goal in a match against
Paris Saint-Germain, Messi suffered from a hamstring problem in his left leg and was substituted at half time.
[171] Since then his first team appearances have been irregular. On 13 May 2013, Messi was unable to finish the match against Atletico Madrid due to recurrence of the hamstring injury in his left leg, he was forced to leave the field midway through the second half.
[172] It was later announced that he could miss the rest of the season due to the injury.
[173] In the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona were down a goal, and Messi was on the bench due to a recurring injury problem. In the second half, Messi came off the bench and combined with David Villa to help create Pedro's game tying goal for Barcelona, which allowed them to progress to the semi-finals.
[174] Barcelona were eliminated in the semi-finals by the eventual winners of the competition,
Bayern Munich. Barcelona were also eliminated in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, by arch-rivals Real Madrid. Barcelona, however, managed to regain the La Liga title from Real Madrid, equalling their record 100 point campaign, which had been accomplished during the previous season.
[175] Messi once again finished as
La Liga's top scorer for the second consecutive year, with 46 goals, also producing 12 assists in the competition. Messi scored 60 goals and provided 16 assists in all competitions that season.
2013–14 season
Messi was nominated for the
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, along with
Cristiano Ronaldo and
Franck Ribéry for a third consecutive year.
[176] Franck Ribéry won the award with 36 votes. Messi finished in second-place with 14 votes, while
Cristiano Ronaldo finished in third-place with 3 votes.
[177][178] On 18 August, 2013, Messi opened the
2013-14 La Liga Season with two goals and an assist against
Levante, as Barcelona went on to win the match 7-0.
[179]On the 28th of August, 2013, Barcelona claimed their eleventh
Supercopa de España title over
Atlético de Madrid on away goals.
[180]
On the 1 September 2013, Messi scored his twenty third career hat trick in a 3–2 win against
Valencia.With these goals he baecame the player to score 100 away goals and become the player who's scored most away goals in the league's history.
[181] [182] These goals made him the sixth highest goalscorer in
the history of La Liga, surpassing
Quini's tally of 219.
[183][184]
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,[2] OIH, (born 5 February 1985),[3] commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and who serves as captain of the Portuguese national team. He became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€94 million/$131.6 million), a record that would later be broken by Gareth Bale, who joined Real Madrid in 2013 for £85 million (€100 million).[4] In addition, Ronaldo's contract with Real Madrid, under the terms of which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,[5] and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.[6]
