Messi’s two goal against Betis took his year tally to 86 (with Barça and Argentina), equalling the record set by Gerd Müller in 1972 (with Bayern Munich and Germany).
Impeccable goalscorer
Messi, one of the three finalists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012, is completing a dream-like year. He was La Liga’s Pichichi last year with 50 goals; he was awarded the Golden Boot; he was the Champions League’s highest scorer with 14 goals; he claimed the Copa del Rey for the Blaugrana; he’s this season’s highest scorer in La Liga with 23 goals from 15 matches, and he finished the 2012/13 Champions League group stage with 5 goals from 6 matches.
In addition, the Argentine has three more games left this year to increase his goal tally.
74 with Barça
Of the 86 goals scored by the Argentine, 12 of them were for Argentina and 74 were for his Club (official matches). He scored 56 in the Liga, 13 in the Champions League, 3 in the Copa del Rey and 2 in the Spanish Super Cup.
Müller, on the other hand, set the record in 1972 by scoring 72 goals for Bayern Munich and 13 for Germany, he played a total of 60 matches that year. Messi equalled/broke the record at the age of 25, Der Bomber was 27 when he set the record in 1972.
