Messi. Messi. Messi. The King wanted to leave Barcelona, and they wouldn't let him go. Se queda, as Gerard Pique would put it, but it's a mess, pardon the pun.
The drama that had the footballing world come to a standstill has ended, for now. So, By the Numbers brings you a reminder of just how good the man has been for Barca, through that one tangible - his incredible stats. This is the very best of Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona --
We are doing this in ascending order, if only to let you get used to the full weight of the numbers before the really big ones hit you...
6
Lionel Messi has won a record 6 Ballons d'Or. Such has been his longevity that Messi's sixth and most recent win came 10 years after he picked up his first title. Cristiano Ronaldo is next best, with 5.
Also 6
Lionel Messi has won six European Golden Shoes (awarded for the highest goals scored across all of Europe's leagues). No one else has more than 4.
7
Messi has won seven Pichichi trophies, the award given to La Liga's top scorer in a season. No one has ever won more. But to put this in a Barcelona context, before Messi debuted, the club had won a grand total of 9 Pichichis.
19/30
Messi is the only footballer to have scored consecutively against all teams in a professional league (19 games, 30 goals in 2011-12).
21
Messi holds the record for the most assists ever in a single La Liga season. What makes it even more remarkable is that he set it amidst the chaos of last season, 2019-20.
26
No one has scored more goals in matches between the great rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona. He has 26 Clasico goals. The next best, Madrid's Alfredo di Stefano and Ronaldo both have 18.
34
Messi has won 34 titles for with Barcelona in his 16 seasons there, including four Champions Leagues and 10 La Liga titles. That is overall almost double the number of titles the club had won in the 16 seasons prior to Messi's debut (18 titles).
36
Messi has scored 36 hat-tricks in La Liga. No one has more. He's tied with Ronaldo for the most number of Champions League hat-tricks (with 8).
40/10
Messi is the only player to score more than 40 goals in 10 consecutive seasons.
50
Messi once hit a quite ridiculous 50 goals in a single La Liga season (2011-12). That, quite obviously, is a record.
73
That same season, Messi hit a total 73 goals for Barca -- that is the most goals ever scored in a single season in Europe's top 5 leagues (all competitions).
91
Well, if you thought 50 and 73 was ridiculous... In the 12 months of 2012, Messi hit 91 goals for both club and country. That's the most anyone has ever scored in official competitions in a calendar year.
361/513
Messi holds the club record for league wins (361) and overall wins (513).
444
Messi holds the record for most goals scored in La Liga history, at, and this is the most impressive bit, an astounding 0.92 goals-per-game. The next closest on the all-time list is Ronaldo, with 311.
634
Messi has scored 634 goals for FC Barcelona. SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR. No one has even come close. The next highest, César Rodríguez scored 232 goals for the club between 1942 and 1955. Messi has scored 273.3% more goals than the man right behind him.
It's such a ridiculous number that you could add Luis Suarez's 198 goals and Laszlo Kubala's 194 goals to Cesar's (i.e. no.2 + no. 3 + no. 4 on the Barca all time goalscorers' list) and you'd still end up 10 goals short of Messi's tally.
(Stats courtesy of ESPN's Statistics & Information Group)