On Saturday, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi scored the opening goal for Paris Saint-Germain when they played Nantes. With this goal, Messi reached yet another extraordinary career achievement.
The 35-year-old player was able to nudge the ball past Alban Lafont and into the back of the net after getting on the end of a skewed cross from Nuno Mendes.
Messi had a fantastic first-time strike, and he rejoiced with the rest of his Paris Saint-Germain colleagues as he hit an incredible milestone.
Messi’s goal against Nantes was the 1000th goal of his club career, and it has been over 20 years since he made his first impact while appearing for Barcelona. The goal was the 1,000th goal Messi scored or assisted on.
Since making his debut in 2004, Messi has played for both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, and throughout that time he has contributed 701 goals and 299 assists to the scoring totals for both teams.
In order to put this accomplishment into perspective, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored or assisted on 912 goals or assists in his club career since making his debut with Sporting CP in the 2002/03 season.
This is 88 fewer goals or assists than Lionel Messi has to his name. In spite of this, Ronaldo has experience playing in four different top-flight leagues, including the Premier League, which is a point in his favour in the age-old dispute.
Yet all of the praise will go to Messi for reaching the thousand-goal plateau, which is something that no other player from any of Europe’s top five leagues has accomplished in the modern age.
Messi’s goal was also the fifth he has scored in the past five matches, and he is currently in the form of his PSG career since moving there from Barcelona in 2021. Messi’s finish was also the fifth goal he has scored in the previous five matches.
Messi has a considerably greater return after attempting to dazzle in his first season at the Parc des Princes, as shown by the fact that he has already tallied 12 goals and 12 assists in 20 Ligue 1 outings so far this season.
Messi was recognised as the best male player in the world by FIFA on Monday, after his stellar performance at the World Cup, where he scored seven goals and was awarded the trophy for Player of the Tournament.
And after scoring in the 12th minute against Nantes, Messi was able to assist PSG over the line for another key win towards their goal of capturing the Ligue 1 championship for the second consecutive season.
This victory came against PSG’s rivals, Nantes. Moments after Lionel Messi’s goal, PSG’s Jaouen Hadjam scored an own goal, which extended their advantage to two goals and provided Christophe Galtier’s team with a comfortable buffer.
Nevertheless, Nantes rallied and scored two fast goals thanks to scores from Ludovic Blas and Ignatius Ganago, which resulted in PSG and Nantes being tied heading into the halftime break.
In the second session, Messi and PSG were able to come through and score twice. Danilo Pereira scored their third goal, and Kylian Mbappe added a fourth goal in injury time.
Messi is scheduled to return to action for Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, when the club will travel to Germany to take on Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League round of 32.
After Kingsley Coman scored the game-winning goal in the first match, Galtier’s team is now down, trailing 1-0.
