Lionel Messi: 15 Impressive Stats from His Record-Breaking Year

In 2012, Lionel Messi further enhanced his legend by completing a year for the ages with both Argentina and Barcelona.

Often the smallest player on the pitch, Messi's brilliance allowed him to break Gerd Müller's record for goals in a calendar year with his 86th goal against Real Betis.

Messi's year will be remembered for generations. At the age of 25, Messi still has more time before he reaches the peak of his abilities.

Over the course of the last 12 months, the new leader of goals has compiled an incredible list of accomplishments. Here are 15 of the most striking stats which Messi achieved in 2012.

5- First Player to Score Five Goals in a Champions League Match

During the second leg of the Champion League round of 16, Messi became the first player to ever score five goals in a Champions League match.

The Barcelona forward scored his goals in the 25, 42, 55, 58 and 85th minutes, capping a 7-1 win for the Spanish club.

After the match, then-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola claimed, "If he [Messi] wants to, he'll score six one day."

7- Minutes in Which Messi Did Not Score (yet)

Messi has not yet scored in the 1st, 2nd, 10th, 14th, 15th, 46th and 69th minutes of the 2012 calendar year.

8- Most La Liga Hat Tricks in One Season

During the 2011/12 La Liga campaign, Messi set the Spanish top flight record for hat tricks in a season.

Of which, five of these occurrences happened in 2012: January 22 vs. Malaga, February 19 vs Valencia, March 20 vs Granada, May 2 vs. Malaga and May 5 vs. Espanyol.

10- Consecutive La Liga Matches with Goals

Between his February 19 match with Valencia and his April 14 match with Levante, Messi equalized Ronaldo and Mariano Martin's record with goals in ten consecutive matches.

During this ten match stretch, he scored 23 goals.

12- Goals with Argentina in a Calendar Year

In 2012, Messi equalized Gabriel Batistuta's record for goals in a season with Argentina with 12.

Unlike Batistuta, who accomplished his mark in a World Cup year (1998), Messi scored his goals during World Cup qualifiers and friendlies in a year when Argentina played in no international tournaments.

Messi totaled 12 goals in just nine matches.

14- Goals in a Champions League Season

Messi broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's 2002 record of 12 goals in a Champions League season with a 14 goal haul between 2011 and 2012.

In 2012, Messi scored eight of those 14 goals.

15- Away Goals Scored

During the 2011-12 campaign, Messi scored 15 of his 50 La Liga goals away from the Camp Nou.

Although this is just 30 percent of his league goal haul, it was still more away goals than both Villarreal and Grenada had last season.

25- Goals Scored Against International Competition

The 13 goals which Messi scored in the Champions League, along with the 12 goals on international duty with Argentina gives Messi the joint record with Vivian Woodward for most international goals in a year.

Woodward achieved his exploits with the English national team during the early 1900s.

50- Goals in a La Liga Season

Messi totaled 50 goals in 35 La Liga matches last season. This eclipsed the 40 goal record which was set by Cristiano Ronaldo during 2010/11.

Messi scored 34 goals in the 2012 portion of that campaign.

56- Total La Liga Goals in 2012

Altogether, Messi scored 56 goals in 2012.

57- Goals in Europe

After scoring a brace at Spartak Moscow during Matchday five in November, Messi's total of goals in European competition reached 57, the most ever by a Barcelona player.

All but one of those goals came in Champions League play.

63- Scoring Average

Messi has averaged a goal every 63 minutes for both Argentina and Barcelona in 2012.

74- Most Club Goals Scored in a Calendar Year

To date, Messi's total of goals scored for Barcelona in this calendar year is 74.

This total broke Archie Stark's 87-year record for goals in a season, which was achieved in the American Soccer League between 1924-25.

86- Goals Scored for Club and Country

Yesterday, Messi broke Gerd Müller's 40-year record for goals in a calendar year with this strike against Real Betis.

Messi still has time to get to 90 goals this season, something which Müller wants the Argentine to do.

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"He's such a nice and modest professional and I think he'll get one or two more goals in 2012 and that he can then hold on to the record for the next 40 years."

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91- Total Goals Scored by Messi in 2012

It might be forgotten, but Messi scored five other goals for Barcelona in friendlies during 2012, which raises his goal total to a mind-boggling 91.

He scored three goals against Raja Club Athletic, one against Paris Saint-Germain and a tally against Dinamo Bucuresti.

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