Lionel Messi Enters Record Books By Hitting 25-Goal Plateau Yet Again
The endless debate of Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo will not die anytime soon. Both players have countless amounts of support behind them, and for good reason.
The pairing who grace La Liga week-in-week-out continuously strive to outdo one another on a regular basis, and while one statistic will not sway the vote either way, the Argentine has yet another to add to the locker.
While his Portuguese counterpart finally began to show the league form well all know he can on Sunday, as he netted his first hat-trick of the season during Real Madrid's 7-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna, Messi was stretching out his ever-growing goalscoring lead in the chase for the Spanish golden boot.
The 30-year-old's brace in Barcelona's 5-0 humbling of Real Betis just hours following Los Blancos' win took his tally across all competitions to 25, the 10th consecutive season he has reached that milestone.
However, it is not just the longevity of the attacker's achievements which are impressive, but the exclusivity in that.
By reaching his quarter-century this weekend, according to Opta, Messi became the first La Liga player to pass the landmark consistently over the last decade, with Ronaldo's six in the competition in addition to his nine in this year's Champions League still some way behind.
However, the Argentine will not be counting his chickens, so to speak, too early, as despite already seemingly sewing up the top flight title this term after extending their lead at the top of the table to 11 points on Sunday, Zinedine Zidane's side could well be entering the form they have been in search of all term, meaning the 2017 Balon d'Or-winner could be hot on his heels in no time.
