BARCELONA | MESSI
Messi: 501 goals and 203 assists so far in his career
The Argentinean's hat-trick against Valencia on Wednesday night took his career tally past the 500-mark as he looks to add to his 28 team titles.
With nine goals in 11 games since the turn of the year, Leo Messi is back on song and racking up the records. The Argentinean’s second strike of his hat-trick against Valencia on Wednesday night, a trademark shot from inside the area, was his 500th career goal. The five-times Ballon d’Or winner has scored 436 for Barcelona, 49 for the full Argentina team, 14 with the under-20s and two in Argentina’s Olympic Games-winning team in Beijing, bringing his total to 501 overall at the age of 28.
In addition to his incredible tally, Messi has also provided 203 assists and won 28 titles during his Barcelona career. After the knee injury in September that kept him on the sidelines until the Clásico on November 21, Messi seems to have come back stronger than before. In what remains of the season, the Argentina captain already has a probably Copa del Rey final to look forward to, where he will seek another title to add to Barça’s triumphs in 2009, 2012 and 2015, and the side’s Liga and Champions League campaigns.
On top of his club prospects for 2015-16, Messi will also lead his country in the Centennial Copa América in the US this summer, where Argentina will attempt to erase the memory of the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa América finals.