Lionel Messi Reaches 700 Combined Goals for Barcelona, Argentina

The legend of Lionel Messi continues to grow.

The Barcelona superstar scored his 700th career goal between club and country during Barca's 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid in La Liga at the Camp Nou on Tuesday. His 630 goals for Barcelona in 724 total appearances and 70 goals for Argentina in 138 caps are both records by a wide margin. Barca's Cesar Rodriguez (232 goals) and Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta (52 goals) are a distant second.

He is also La Liga's all-time leading scorer, with 441 goals, and has scored 20 or more goals in league play in 12 straight seasons. Former Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, now with Juventus, is second all-time in La Liga history with 311 tallies.

Ronaldo is the only other active player with over 700 goals for club and country.

They are in a select club of just seven players ever to have reached the milestone:

For over a decade, soccer fans have gotten to watch two of the greatest players in history go back and forth, scoring goals at a breakneck pace, collecting awards nearly as quickly and dominating the sport. Wherever people fall on the Messi vs. Ronaldo debate, there's little doubting the impact both have had on the sport.

But while Messi stole the headlines Tuesday, Barcelona's 2-2 draw kept it a point behind Real Madrid, with Los Blancos holding a game in hand. With just five games remaining for Barca, the Catalan side is in real danger of conceding the title to its bitter rivals.

Barcelona has won the last two La Liga titles and has been champion in eight of the past 11 seasons. Real Madrid last took home the title in the 2016-17 campaign.