Lionel Messi’s second goal in Paris Saint-Germain’s comfortable 4-1 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday was yet another one for the history books and again brought up comparisons with the legendary Pele.
After Kylian Mbappe had scored twice in quick succession to put PSG two goals up inside the opening seven minutes, Messi made it three shortly before half-time with a trademark curling effort from outside the box.
Messi — who is ranked No. 1 among the world’s top forwards in ESPN’s FC 100 for 2021 — followed up his fine 20-yard effort with a 76th-minute penalty. That was Messi’s sixth goal for PSG since joining them in the summer which, added to the 672 he scored for Barcelona and the 80 he has so far netted for Argentina, took his career total to date to 758, moving him past Brazil great Pele’s tally of 757 goals scored in “official” matches (more on that later).
To put that into modern context, only Messi’s long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo (the No. 2 forward in 2021’s FC 100) is ahead of him on the list of active men’s footballers, after the Manchester United forward scored his 801st senior goal for club and country in last week’s 3-2 win over Arsenal.
Messi has already taken one long-held record from Pele after surpassing the three-time World Cup-winner’s one-club record last year. After joining Santos in 1956 as a 15-year-old, Pele went on to score 643 goals in 659 games in official matches (domestic league and cup competitions and continental tournaments) for the Sao Paulo club in a 19-season stint that came to an end in 1974. No one had ever scored more competitive goals for a single club and his phenomenal record stood for almost half a century until December 2020, when Messi scored against Real Valladolid to register his 644th senior goal for boyhood side Barca.
– ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.)
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
– Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access
When it comes to Pele’s…
Source : espn
