After beating Cristiano Ronaldo to a record-breaking sixth Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi has now beaten his longstanding rival to another incredible record, one no other footballer has achieved before.
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The FC Barcelona captain netted a treble in his side's 5-2 win over Mallorca last weekend, taking his tally to 12 LaLiga goals for the 2019/20 campaign.
As a consequence, Messi became the first player in history to score 10 or more goals in each of the past 14 seasons in Europe's top five leagues, as Opta Sports pointed out.
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Ronaldo could have achieved this record in 2019/20 as well, but the Portuguese forward is currently on seven strikes in Serie A, and remains three short of the milestone.
Both superstars scored at least 10 goals in each of their past 13 league campaigns – a run that started in 2006/07.
Messi and Ronaldo's goal tallies in the past 14 domestic campaigns:
|
|
Lionel Messi |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
|
2006/07 |
14 |
17 |
|
2007/08 |
10 |
31 |
|
2008/09 |
23 |
18 |
|
2009/10 |
34 |
26 |
|
2010/11 |
31 |
40 |
|
2011/12 |
50 |
46 |
|
2012/13 |
46 |
34 |
|
2013/14 |
28 |
31 |
|
2014/15 |
43 |
48 |
|
2015/16 |
26 |
35 |
|
2016/17 |
37 |
25 |
|
2017/18 |
34 |
26 |
|
2018/19 |
36 |
21 |
|
2019/20 |
12 |
7 |
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Messi has beaten Ronaldo's goals tally in each of the past three campaigns, with the latter last finishing with more league goals than his rival in 2015/16.
Do you think Messi will retire with more career goals than Ronaldo? Have your say in the comments section below.
