With eight Ballon d’Or titles, the Argentina skipper is one of the greatest players of all time with three more than nearest rival Cristiano Ronaldo on the list.
Playing in a team with some of the greatest midfielders ever in Xavi and Andres Iniesta, Messi of course, outshone Barcelona's chief creators while also outscoring everyone in his path. Xavi retired with 129 La Liga assists, which is still a considerable way off Messi's 192.
In an era where Messi and Ronaldo were doing their unworldly best to one-up each other in La Liga, the levels went through the roof. Ronaldo ran him close when he scored 48 goals in 2014/15, but even that firing rate wasn't enough to eclipse Messi's 50 league goals in 2011/12. If he can't do it, nobody can.
To put this one into context, Alan Shearer leads the way for Premier League goals scored with 260. Messi has almost double that over in La Liga. And no, the quality of league is not at play here. 474 goals is frankly a ridiculous firing rate no matter where you score them.
Nine goals away from scoring 100 goals within a 365 day period. That is truly unfathomable numbers. Producing the mesmerising feat in 2012, nobody has come close to Messi's 91-goal year since. Still sitting in second place is Gerd Muller, who scored 85 goals in 1972.
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