Barcelona striker Lionel Messi scored his 700th career goal on Tuesday, scoring from the penalty spot to put his team ahead against Atlético Madrid in a home game at Camp Nou.
Messi, who converted a rogue panenka shot to reach the milestone, has now scored 630 times for Barça in 724 appearances in all competitions and another 70 for Argentina in 138 games.
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He is the top scorer by distance for both the club and the country, since he surpassed Barça legend César Rodríguez (232 goals) in 2012 and former Argentine international Gabriel Batistuta (52 goals) in 2016.
Since 2014, he has also been the all-time top scorer in La Liga. The record was previously held by former Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra, who scored 251 top-flight goals. Messi is currently at 441. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 311 for Real Madrid before his move to Juventus in 2018.
Messi, who turned 33 on June 24, has now scored 22 La Liga goals this season after Tuesday’s effort. He served 20 for the 12th consecutive season in a 4-0 win at Mallorca earlier this month and was also on target three days later in the victory against Leganes.
However, he has work to do if he wants to win the European Golden Shoe for the seventh time in his career, and the fourth consecutive season.
Robert Lewandowski leads the way with 34 Bundesliga goals, which equals 68 points, while Messi’s 22 goals are worth 44 points. However, the Barça player still has five games to play, while Bayern Munich have ended up playing for the season after winning the league title again.
Messi has a contract until 2021 at the Camp Nou. He recently expired a clause that would have allowed him to leave for free this summer, ensuring that he remains at the club for another 12 months.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu plans to hold talks with his father and agent, Jorge, in the coming months. However, there is currently no rush, with Jorge currently in Argentina and Bartomeu happy to wait until some form of normality returns after the coronavirus pandemic.
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