Lionel Messi scores 700 career goals in 112 matches fewer than Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona's talismanic Argentine striker scored the 700th goal of his career on Tuesday (June 30) during a 2-2 draw vs Atletico Madrid. Messi reached the milestone with a penalty against the best goalkeeper in the world, Jan Oblak.

Messi reached 700 career goals in just 861 appearances as he has scored 630 goals in 723 matches for Barcelona and 70 in 138 appearances for Argentina.

Besides Messi, Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo is the only active players to have reached 700 goals. It is however, notable that Ronaldo took 112 more matches to score 700 goals. Ronaldi hit his 700th goal in 973th match during Portugal’s 2-1 loss to Ukraine in October 2019.

Messi has scored over 40 goals in a calendar year in each of the last 11 years, hitting 50 or more in nine of them. In 2012, he netted a total of 91 goals (79 for Barcelona, 12 for Argentina), which is still a record. Messi has also amassed 294 assists for club and country in his career, which means that he is fast reaching the incredible record of 1,000 goals and assists, too.

Messi is also ahead of Ronaldo when it comes to winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or title with the Argentine leading 6-5. However, Raonaldo, 35, still has the opportunity to level it up this season. 

Messi is unlikely to win his domestic league with Barca this season while Ronaldo is on course to achieve this landmark with Juventus, which means the Portuguese star has the upper hand. The outcome of the the Champions League will have a big say on deciding the winner of Ballon d'Or this season.