Happy birthday Lionel Messi! His career in 30 facts

Happy birthday Lionel Messi! His career in 30 facts

Arakunrin Akinbolusere Michael McBolous

As Lionel Messi celebrates his 30th birthday, we pay tribute by coming up with a remarkable statistic or record for each of his years on this earth – we don't have to look too far!
©UEFA.com

1: First senior goal – on 1 May 2005 – came for Barcelona as a late substitute in a Liga game against Albacete; to the manner born, the 17-year-old chipped in impudently.

2: Second-highest scorer in European Cup history – group stage to final – with 94 goals.

3: Messi has hit 37 hat-tricks for Barcelona.

4: Number of UEFA Champions League winners' medals in his collection, together with eight Liga titles and five Copa del Reys.

5: Goals Messi scored against Bayer Leverkusen in one UEFA Champions League last-16 game in 2012 (a record shared with Luiz Adriano).

6: Messi found the net in six different club competitions in 2011, repeating the feat in 2015.

7: Most UEFA Champions League hat-tricks (a feat shared with Cristiano Ronaldo).
8: Consecutive seasons that he has notched 40 goals or more for Barcelona.

9: Goals short of 100 for Messi in the calendar year 2012, with a world record 91.

10: Messi wore the No19 shirt when he broke into the Barcelona team before inheriting the No10 in 2008 following Ronaldinho's departure.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo goal for goal

11: Messi was nearly 11 when his grandmother died. She is the inspiration for his trademark celebration, looking up and pointing to the sky.

12: Most goals scored for Argentina in a calendar year, 2012, a record he shares with Gabriel Batistuta.

13: Age at which he left his native Argentina to join Barcelona.

14: Number of goals Messi has struck at the Santiago Bernabéu, second only to the Camp Nou at club level.

15: Most Liga away matches with a goal in a single season (he also holds the record for home games, with 16).

16: Messi was 16 years, four months, and 23 days old when he made his Barça first-team debut in a friendly against José Mourinho's Porto; his 15-minute cameo saw him create two openings and have a shot himself.

17: Record number of goals registered in the Spanish Super Cup, across six different seasons.

18: Age when Messi bagged his first UEFA Champions League goal, nervelessly lifting the ball over the keeper and firing in against Panathinaikos.

19: Messi is the only player to score consecutively against all 19 opposition teams in the Liga.

20: Messi has plundered 20+ goals against six opponents over the course of his career, including the rest of last season's Liga top six.
Ronaldo at 30 (from February 2015)

21: Longest goalscoring run in the Liga set in 2012/13, amassing 33 goals during that sequence of matches.

22: Age when he claimed the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards by record voting margins.

23: Goals scored in the Clásico, five more than Alfredo di Stéfano and seven more than Ronaldo.

24: Age at which he became Barcelona's all-time top scorer.

25: Major finals he has contested over the years ...

26: ... and the number of goals he has struck in them.

27: Goals converted direct from a free-kick for the Blaugrana.

28: Messi became the youngest South American to reach 100 caps four days short of his 28th birthday.

29: Goals Messi has notched so far against favourite opponents Sevilla; on the European stage Arsenal have the unwanted honour (nine).

30: Years on the clock!

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