Haaland is making scoring goals fun at Man City. However, the Norwegian player still has a long way to go to catch up with Lionel Messi with the best season of his career.
Erling Haaland is phenomenal. No one can argue. Haaland soon hit 50 goals in all competitions. His 34 Premier League goals equalize the all-time record in a single season set by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer. However, this achievement is not comparable to Messi.
Leo’s 73 goals for Barcelona in the 2011/12 season is still a record that no one has yet achieved. “Don’t write about Messi, don’t try to describe him. Enjoy,” Pep Guardiola said of his favorite student at that time.
“Haaland deserves all the praise but Messi is on another planet,” Goal said. Messi’s personal achievements in 2012 will never be overshadowed. His record is even more memorable at a time when the era of Barca dominance is coming to an end.
Hats off to Messi
Messi scored 73 goals in just 60 games with 9 hat-tricks. The Argentine player averages a goal every 71.5 minutes for Barca. Messi’s mark began with a brace to help the Catalan club beat Real Madrid 3-2 at Camp Nou to win the 2011 Spanish Super Cup.
In September 2011, Atletico Madrid marched to Camp Nou and was completely destroyed at the hands of Messi. The Argentine superstar scored a great hat-trick, including a solo move past 4 Atletico defenders and scored.
The 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final is considered a battle between Messi and Neymar. The young Brazilian talent then attracted interest from Barca and Real Madrid after a great start with Santos. But Neymar could not have imagined that the gap in class between the two was so big. Messi opened the scoring after only 17 minutes. He completed the double in the match and Barca overcame the South American representative with a score of 4-0.
Neymar eventually forged a long-term partnership with Messi at Camp Nou and later in Paris Saint-Germain, but Messi and Barca taught Neymar football lessons he never forgot.
Haaland became only the third player in Champions League history to score five goals in a single game as he inspired City to a 7-0 win in the first leg of their round of 16 against RB Leipzig. Luiz Adriano also achieved this feat with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2014. However, it was Messi who set the standard first.
Barca faced Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 in the 2011/12 season and took advantage with a 3-1 victory in the first leg in Germany. The Spanish giants are not complacent and Messi really engulfed the visitors with 5 goals. Before that, it was the Argentine striker and Marco Van Basten who were two of the players who held the record of scoring four goals in a game.
Surpassing Ronaldo
Despite Messi’s crazy statistics, Barca’s final season under Guardiola was the least successful. Real left “Blaugrana” 9 points ahead in La Liga when Jose Mourinho turned “Los Blancos” into the top scoring machine in the league (121 goals).
Cristiano Ronaldo has had an excellent season, reaching 46 goals in La Liga and having 60 goals in all competitions. However, that achievement is still overshadowed by Messi. Indeed, Leo set a new record in La Liga with 50 goals and no one has broken it yet.
Messi imprinted his shoes on 102 goals in 60 appearances for Barca that season, more than Ronaldo’s 27 contributions with Real. Barca also has a better head-to-head record against Real. They won 3, drew 2 and lost only 1 in 6 encounters with the rival team.
After winning the Spanish Super Cup, Messi and his teammates also played better than Mourinho’s army on the journey to lift the King’s Cup of Spain, after the success at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Messi’s greatest season wasn’t just about goals. He has 29 assists for teammates. This is by far the most assists a player has set up in a single season in Europe’s top five leagues (equivalent to Juan Mata for Chelsea in 2013/14).
The Barca icon averages 0.5 assists every 90 minutes, including 16 in La Liga. 2011/12 became a memorable season for Messi as he became a full-fledged player. Those qualities set Messi apart from the rest.
Leo continued to maintain top form the following season, reaching 91 club and national goals in 2012, surpassing the record set by the legendary Gerd Muller.
“Haaland can hardly reach the standards set by Messi. Stop comparing every player with Messi, because there will never be anyone like him,” Goal concluded .
