On Sunday, Lionel Messi reached yet another incredible milestone - he scored his 500th career goal. However, Barcelona lost 1-2 against Valencia in the match, so the Argentine didn't bring much joy. BBC Sport decided to take a closer look at how all 500 of Messi's goals were scored.
Messi scored his first goal at the age of 17: in May 2005, the then 17-year-old striker scored against Albacete. Since then, he has punished 87 teams and yesterday reached a unique milestone by scoring his 500th goal.
"It's a number from another galaxy," said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique about his student's achievement, and here is how Messi scored all of his goals.
At what minutes were they scored?
Messi scored the least amount of goals in the first few minutes of matches, and the most goals were scored by punishing tired opponents in the last moments of the game. Both in the first and second halves, Messi scored the least in the first 15 minutes, but scored more as the half progressed, and in the last quarter of the game, the Argentine scored the most goals.
How were the goals scored?
A staggering 81% of all of Messi's accurate shots were made with his left foot. He scored 71 goals with his right foot and 21 times with a header.
The vast majority of the striker's goals were scored during open play - 411. He scored 64 goals from eleven meters penalties, and 25 times he scored from direct free kicks.
Which season had the most goals?
Messi has scored at least 40 goals for eight consecutive seasons. This season he has already scored 42 times, but it is nowhere near his best season - in the 2011-2012 season, the striker scored a staggering 82 times.
Who were the goals scored against?
In total, Messi punished 88 teams with his goals. Most of his goals were scored against Madrid's Atletico and Sevilla - 25 each. Messi scored 21 times against his main rivals in Spain - Real Madrid players.
In which tournaments were the goals scored?
Most of Messi's goals were scored in La Liga matches - 309. He scored 83 goals in the Champions League tournament. Representing the Argentine national team, he scored more goals in friendly matches than in official matches - 27 times he punished opponents in friendly matches, and 23 goals were scored in official matches.
Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
After scoring the 500th goal, he joined his main rival - Cristiano Ronaldo, who reached this mark earlier. However, Messi needed less time to achieve this milestone, and on average he scored 0.11 more goals than Ronaldo in one match. After scoring against Valencia, Messi trails Ronaldo by 39 accurate shots, but has played 159 matches less than the Portuguese player.
Who assisted his goals the most?
Barcelona's right-back Dani Alves assisted Messi's goals the most. The Brazilian made 42 assists, after which the team's leader scored a goal. Luis Suarez, who joined the team just over two years ago, is also among the top five players who assisted Messi the most.
How many goals in matches?
Messi scored more often than every other game - the Argentine scored 320 goals out of 632 matches. The striker scored 3 or more goals 38 times, and in 2012 he became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match.
Club or national team?
In the Argentine national team, Messi averages almost half a goal per game (0.47 per match). Meanwhile, at Barcelona club, he is much more productive and scores almost once per game (0.86 per match).
The most beautiful goals?
His 500th goal was neither the most beautiful nor the most important goal of his career - the striker scored a simple shot after Jordi Alba's pass, but when a player scores 450 goals for Barca and 50 more times for the Argentine national team, there is no doubt that his career has more than one great goal. One of his most beautiful goals was scored in last year's Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao. Receiving the ball in the middle of the field, he bypassed no less than four defenders and sent the ball into the net, and this strike was nominated for the 2015 FIFA Puskas award, which is awarded for the most beautiful goal of the year.
Messi's goal from 0:47
He scored this goal just a few weeks after a wonderful goal in the Champions League semi-final against Bayern, which was recognized as the goal of the year in that competition.
Messi has been scoring such goals for many years, and Barcelona shared a tweet about his goal scored nine years ago, a great goal by the then 19-year-old Argentine against Getafe.
Although Messi has only managed to win titles with youth teams in the Argentine national team, winning the 2005 World Youth Championships and the 2008 Olympic gold, representing his country's national team, Messi has also scored some beautiful goals. Here are ten of the most beautiful Messi goals in World Cup and World Cup qualifying matches while representing the Argentine national team.
