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Lionel Messi Reached 700 Career Goals Much Quicker Than Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi Reached 700 Career Goals Much Quicker Than Cristiano Ronaldo

The Argentine's panenka penalty past Jan Oblak took him to 700 goals last night...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Lionel Messi reached another historic milestone last night after scoring his 700th career goal in fewer games than Cristiano Ronaldo.

In the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid last night, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner dinked a panenka penalty past arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in Jan Oblak, making a high-pressure scenario look very easy.

The 33-year old has reached 700 official goals in 862 matches for club and country - with 630 in 723 for Barcelona and 70 in 138 for the Argentina national team.

Take in his goals for Barcelona C and Barcelona B, as well as the Argentina youth sides, and that number rises to 727.

His long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo joined the 700 club before Messi but the Barcelona talisman has done so in 112 less games.

35-year old Ronaldo notched his 700th career goal in a 2-1 defeat to Ukraine in October 2019 in what was his 974th professional appearance.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Also last night, Ronaldo thumped in a long-range strike for Juventus to move level with Ferenc Puskas as the fourth-highest scorer in football history on 746 career goals - as per RSSSF.

Messi, now the second active player to have scored 700 goals, is in seventh on the list - with a further nine goals seeing him move ahead ahead of Germany and Bayern Munich legend Gerd Muller on 735.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Czech-Austrian legend Josef Bican is the man leading the way as the most prolific goalscorer of all-time according to the record books.

Playing for a total of eight different club teams across Eastern Europe in three decades, he notched a ridiculous 805 goals in 530 games and didn't retire until he was 42-years-old.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Lionel Messi, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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