Real Valladolid vs. Barcelona - Football Match Report
- by Florence Jennings
- in Sport
- — Dec 23, 2020
The Argentine superstar feels the impact of empty venues has been felt on the pitch too, as it negates any home advantage for teams and leads to more even contests.
Matching Pele's record on Saturday has a strong resonance for the Argentinian star, coming just three weeks after the death of his compatriot and fellow icon Diego Maradona.
Lineker tweeted: "To beat Messi's 644 goal record, someone will have to score an average of 43 goals a season for 15 years....for one club". Speaking in an hour long interview which is yet to be aired in Spain, Lionel Messi spoke openly about the issues he's had to go through this year. However, drop a little further and just four other English clubs (Everton, West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa) have scored more goals than the little Argentine since he made his Barcelona debut. Pele also has also won the top compeition in global football, the FIFA World Cup, three times.
It should come as little surprise that some of Messi's best returns in a Barca jersey came when playing in the golden era of Pep Guardiola.
The "10" kept on trying, but was unable to get a goal.
Atletico Madrid are top with 32 points from 13 games after a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad earlier on Tuesday night.
Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame make the field
The pairing Sunday by the CFP selection committee sets up a rematch of last year's semifinal in the Fiesta Bowl. Instead, the game has been moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Messi's latest career landmark comes in the wake of his failed pre-season bid to quit Barca after they were thrashed 8-2 by eventual winners Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-fnals.
Messi scored past the former Valencia stopper on 21 occasions, with Gorka Iraizoz next on the list - having shipped 18 to the Argentina captain.
This was also the case to finish the previous campaign, meaning Messi has not played in front of supporters at Camp Nou since LaLiga was paused in March.
"He has scored many goals against me".
Pele, with between 757 and 767 goals in competitive matches over his career, which also include 92 Brazil internationals and two seasons with the New York Cosmos, is ahead of Messi with 714 for club and country and the more travelled Cristiano Ronaldo (754).
