Lionel Messi: Time Person of the Year and Other Records He Can Break This Season

Let us take a peek into Lionel Messi’s performance for Barcelona so far this season.

15 goals and six assists in 12 La Liga appearances

Five goals and two assists in four Champions League appearances

24 goals and 11 assists in 19 appearances in all competitions.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizaretta once said to EFE (h/t goal.com), “Messi’s stats are like those about to retire”. Looking at Messi’s breathtaking stats this season, and we haven’t yet celebrated Christmas, there is no reason he will not reach the 60-goal mark in all competitions.

60 goals in a season! Yes, this 5’7" man doesn’t seem to get tired of scoring goals and winning trophies for his team and himself.

It would be shocking and ridiculous if he were not to win the Ballon D’ Or this year.

And if his hunger for more remains the same for a few more years, we will be privileged to tell our children we watched the best football player ever.

Trophies and Ballon D’ Or trophies motivate this little magician, but he is keen to fill the record books as well.

This slideshow lists great records he might break before he reaches his 25th birthday.

Move Past César Rodríguez

Week in, week out, Lionel Messi must be used to reading his name in the headlines of the morning papers.

But last month, he must have been delighted when it was announced Messi had overtaken the legendary Kubala—the man whose statue he had seen countless times at the Nou Camp.

He had perhaps been more like a myth.

Messi now has 204 goals in all competitions for Barcelona, and with the better part of the season remaining, it will be hard to bet against him surpassing César Rodríguez’s 235 goals.

More astounding is the fact it took 16 years for César to score that many goals and become the top all-time scorer for Barcelona.

Almost six decades later, he still is on top of that list.

Leo Messi has set his sights. Six months from now, the name should be replaced.

Score in 6 Different Competitions

Teammate Pedro did it in the 2008-09 season, and Leo Messi will want to do it, too.

After all, this opportunity comes very rarely.

Messi has already scored in the four competitions he has played in—La Liga, Champions League and the two Super Cups.

He will definitely score in the Copa Del Rey and the only competition left is the Club World Cup. The last time Messi played in this competition, he scored two goals.

Leo Messi will definitely take it as a challenge to score in this competition. The odds are definitely in his favor, and so are the odds in Barcelona’s favor to win against other continental champions.

3 Ballon D’Or Trophies in a Row

Michel Platini will watch as only the second player after him will win three Ballon D’Ors in a row.

In fact, he will be wondering if the streak could go to four. Maybe five? Will he stop at all? And if yes, when?

This is the question looming over everybody’s head, not least Real Madrid fans. They are the ones most worried, though deep inside, they too admire the man.

53 goals in all competitions last season, the La Liga trophy, the Champions League trophy. No doubt, Leo Messi has won it already.

One more thing to ponder is will it again be an all-Barcelona affair?

Surpass Ronaldo’s 40-Goal Haul

Though there is quite a distance between the best player in the world and the second best, the fact the second-best hit 40 goals in a single league season is outstanding.

Of course, many goals at the end were meaningless after Barcelona had won their 21st league trophy, but one cannot undermine the fact a new benchmark has been set.

40 goals would have been unthinkable had Ronaldo not scored it last season, and Messi will be looking to break this record.

That Ronaldo holds this record makes it even more interesting.

Time Person of the Year

Leo Messi is the only sportsman shortlisted for this year's edition of Time Person of the Year.

While there is little doubt he is the best football player today, he could as well be the most influential. He is already a fan favorite in the People’s choice poll for “Person of the Year,” behind only the Wall Street protesters.

The humble Argentine has scores of fans all over the world and can be seen on t-shirts of kids, be it in the streets of Kathmandu or the parks of New York.

He is an icon. A living legend. An idol for all football lovers, whether you support Barcelona or Argentina or not.

He keeps millions glued to the TV screen waiting for his famous moments of magic as he dribbles easily past the opposing team’s back line.

The rest, as they say, is history.

September 23 Update: Guess What! Messi is now leading the People's Choice poll for Time Magazine's Person of the Year.