By LUIS ALBERTO DÍAZ
Messi is on course to beat all the goal scoring records in existence. With just 24 matches played and with 14 to go until the end of the Spanish league, the Argentine has scored more goals than 15 of the top division teams.
Only Real Madrid, Málaga, Real Sociedad, Atlético and his own Barcelona have been able to clock up more goals than him. The team he is furthest ahead of is Celta, with a goal difference of 14 – 36 goals for Messi, to the Vigo side’s humble 22.
In a spectacular run of 14 games in which he has found the net, Messi has scored 24 goals. ‘La Pulga’ (the Flea) has only failed to hit the target in four games this season: in the third fixture against Valencia, the 5th against Granada, the 6th against Sevilla and the 10th against Celta.
Of Messi’s 36 goals, 16 were secured in the first half and 20 following half time. The Argentine is also more successful as a visitor than at home, with 21 of his 36 tally coming while playing away from Camp Nou; an area in which he is only topped by Real Madrid, as no other team has been able to score more away goals.
Thanks to this achievement, Messi is just two goals away from equalling another record – that of top away goal scorer in a season, an accolade held to date by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese player scored 23 away goals in the last campaign.
