Lionel Messi was elected Ballon d'Or, Monday, December 2. The Argentine footballer is ahead of Dutch defender Liverpool's Virgil Van Djik and his biggest rival of the decade, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. The Barcelonese returns a little more in the legend as prove these figures.
6
That's the number of Golden Ball he won. The first was a decade ago, in 2009. This is an absolute record for this trophy created by the magazine France Football The Catalan striker Cristiano Ronaldo is a solid dolphin with five Golden Balls, followed by a trio composed of Dutchman Johan Cruyff, Frenchman Michel Platini and another Dutchman, Marco Van Basten. who each have three. Messi is the only player to win three Golden Balls without winning an international competition in the reference year (2010, 2012, 2019).
33
The number of titles won by Messi since his professional debut in 2004 includes 4 Champions League, 10 Spanish leagues (Liga), 6 King's Cup, 7 Spanish Supercup, 3 UEFA Super Cup, 3 Cups of the world of clubs. All these trophies were won with FC Barcelona, the only club he wore the jersey (he left his native Argentina at the age of 13). His record with the Argentine national team is however virgin, Messi having never been titled neither at the World Cup, nor the Copa America, continental competition American. The only international trophy: he won the gold medal with "Albiceleste" at the Beijing Games in 2008.
684
The number of goals in all competitions, both club and selection. Messi opened his counter on May 1, 2005, with a lob in a match between Barcelona and Albacete. The "pulga" (the chip, his nickname) is undoubtedly part of the top scorers in activity, but he remains a few lengths of his illustrious predecessors: the Austrian (then Czech) Josef Bican, 805 goals (but it was before the Second World War) ; Brazilians Romario (772 goals) and Pelé (767 goals).
44.7
Its average number of goals per season (the current one excluded) out of a total of fifteen professional seasons. In the Champions League, the most prestigious club competition, the Argentine scored an average of 6.3 goals per campaign. The averages are even higher if one removes his first professional season, 2004-2005, during which he had played only 9 games scored a single goal (0 in the Champions League).
281
His number of assists throughout his career (club and national team). Messi is not only a formidable scorer, he is also an excellent smuggler and creator for his partners. In the Champions League alone, the Blaugrana is ranked second best passer of this competition (since it exists), with 35 assists, against 40 for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Maxime Pimont
