It’s difficult to know which outstanding records to choose to write about
from the many, many records that Messi continues to break. Football blogs are in danger of turning into
Lionel Messi blogs as writers continue to be amazed by the things the little
Argentine achieves.
However this week’s exploit is quite special. While extending his scoring run from 18 games
to 19 is only furthering his record (a record most expect him to continue), he
has now scored against ALL 19 teams in La Liga, in 19 consecutive matches.
For a normal world class striker, scoring 19 league goals in
a season is good, great even. Michael
Owen, a former European footballer of the Year, never managed to get beyond the
19 goal mark in the League in a single season.
Messi has scored in 19 consecutive league matches. The goal tally from these matches is 29.
Scoring against every other team in the league is a very
rare feat. Robin Van Persie was rightly
lauded for scoring against 17 different teams out of 19 in the Premier League, equalling
Ian Wright’s record.
No one else has ever managed to score against every other La
Liga team. Some might argue there is a
gulf from Real Madrid and Barcelona against the other teams, but undoubtedly World
Class strikers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Ronaldo, Falcao or the
Brazilian Ronaldo have never managed this feat.
In leagues like Scotland some players have managed to score
against every other team, however it helps that there is only twelve teams in
the league and there are four opportunities to score against each team.
So this is a groundbreaking record for Messi. Unfortunately, only 1 goal in a 1-1 draw
against Valencia following no goals against them in a 1-0 Barcelona victory
earlier in the season means Messi will be unable to make it an unprecedented two
goals against every team in the league, but he may only fall slightly short.
His recent run puts him on 43 for the season, meaning he is well placed to break his own record of 50 La Liga goals set last year.
His recent run puts him on 43 for the season, meaning he is well placed to break his own record of 50 La Liga goals set last year.
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