How Lionel Messi intends to surpass Pele with Barcelona in 2020

It seems like every week, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is on track to break another record. He is now closing in on one of the greatest players ever.

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Between 1956 and 1974, Pelé scored 643 goals for Santos, helping them to six Brazilian domestic titles, two Intercontinental Cups, and a few more championships along the way. That also marked the record number of goals scored by a player for a single club. A stunning record that has almost stayed unbroken for 50 years. Barcelona’s Messi is currently 25 shy of that record.

The 2019/2020 campaign has seen Messi in his usual scoring form, racking up 16 goals in 20 appearances for the Catalans. That’s a rate of 0.8 goals per game. Meaning it should take him about 32 more games to clinch this record. Knowing Messi, he’ll probably achieve it well before then.

There are 19 more La Liga games to go. Should FC Barca advance further in the knockout competitions, that would mean a further six Copa del Rey games, and a few more Champions League outings . Therefore it is expected that Messi will break the record this season.

The Blaugrana’s president Josep Bartomeu has not been shy of drawing comparisons between Pelé and Messi:

“I always make a comparison with Pelé. Pelé was a man of a single club (in Brazil) … I have no doubts that after Messi finishes his career as a footballer, he will remain linked to this club for the rest of his life.” he told the Associated Press.

Should he achieve this feat, it will be one more accolade in favor of Messi as the greatest soccer player of all time. Pelé played the majority of his career in the center forward position, whereas Messi plays as a right-winger. This would make the achievement that much more significant.

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How many goals do you think Messi will score at the end of his FC Barcelona career?