Messi breaks Muller record with 68th goal
Reuters - Wednesday 02 May 2012, 20:05
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi
reached another milestone in his incredible career on Wednesday
when he broke Gerd Muller's 39-year-old record of 67 goals in a
season for a European top-flight club.
The Argentine World Player of the Year netted twice from the
penalty spot and once from open play to help Barca to a 4-1 win
at home to Malaga, his 44th, 45th and 46th La Liga goals of the
campaign taking his total in all competitions to 68.
Muller set the record playing for Bayern Munich in the
1972/73 season and Messi has three more matches - two in La Liga
and the King's Cup final - in which to add to his tally.
Messi's third of the night at a festive Nou Camp showcased
his dazzling skills as he raced clear on to Andres Iniesta's
pass, dinked the ball over the onrushing Carlos Kameni and
tapped the ball into the empty net.
Clutching the match ball and with a typically shy expression
on his face, he was congratulated by his team-mates as he
strolled off the pitch at the end.
Still only 24, Messi is already Barca's leading scorer in
official games with 248 goals, beating Cesar Rodriguez's
60-year-old record of 232 in March when he also became the first
player to score five in a Champions League match.
He netted his first goal for the Catalan club on May 1, 2005
aged 17 years, 10 months and seven days in a La Liga game
against Albacete at the Nou Camp after coming through the youth
system with contemporaries Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique.
This season, as well as his La Liga tally, he has scored 14
goals in the Champions League, two in the King's Cup, three in
the Spanish Super Cup, one in the European Super Cup and two at
the Club World Cup.
He has 11 more than Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo,
who has 43 in La Liga, 10 in the Champions League, three in the
King's Cup and one in the Spanish Super Cup.