Lionel Messi has now established himself as the greatest goal scorer in soccer history after shattering Gerd Müller's 40 year record of 85 goals in a calendar year. However, Messi's feat is all the more impressive when broken down and studied piece by piece.
Messi scored in eight different countries in 2012 and of the 66 matches he played in, 44 of them saw him score. Here is a run down of his 86 goals.
January
1 + 2 - On January 4, Messi scored against Osasuna in the Copa del Rey as Barcelona won 4-0. Both goals came in the second half including a header and a strike.
3 + 4 - On January 15, Messi scored twice against Real Betis in a 4-2 Barcelona win in the Spanish First Division. At this match, he showed off his third straight Ballon D'Or and scored once in the first and on a penalty in the second.
5, 6,7 - Messi's first hat trick came on January 22 in a Spanish division match against Malagathat ended 4-1 in Barcelona's favor.
February
Goal Number 8 was added on February 4. vs Real Sociedad as Barcelona won 2-1 off his 72nd minute game winner.
Number 9 was added on February 14 in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen. Barcelona won the match 3-1 as Messi added his squads final goal.
10, 11, 12 + 13 - Messi's first four goal game came on February 19 against Valencia. The matchw as Messi's 200th for Barcelona and the team won 5-1.
14 - Messi scored the game winner in the 81st minute on February 26 against Atletico Madrid.
15, 16 + 17 - Messi scored his first batch of International goals on February 29 against Switzerland in Bern. Argentina won 3-1.
March
18, 19, 20, 21 + 22 - Messi had a historic match as he scored five against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on March 7 versus Bayer Leverkusen. Barcelona won the match 7-1 and Messi became the first player to score five goals in a single Champions League match.
23 + 24 - His brace on March 11 against Racing Santander was also Messi's 49th and 50th goals of the 2011-12 season.
25 - Messi scored a single goal against Sevilla FC on March 17 in a 2-0 Barcelona win.
26, 27 + 28 - Another hat trick came against Granada in a 5-3 win for Barcelona on March 20.
29 - Scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Mallorca on March 24.
30 - Scored a penalty against Athletic Bilbao on March 31st in a 2-0 win.
April
31 + 32 - Messi broke the single season record in a Champions League with his 14th goal of the tournament in a 3-1 win over Milan on April 4. Both were penalties.
33 + 34 - Scored his 60th goal of the Spanish League season when he scored twice in a 401 rout of Real Zaragoza on April 7.
35 - Barcelona won 4-0 against Getafe on April 10.
36 + 37 - Ahelped Barcelona overcome a 1-0 deficit in the second half to win 2- over Levante on April 14.
38 + 39 - After being eliminated by Chelsea from the Champions League earlier in the week, Messi scored twice in a tremendous 7-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on April 29.
May
40, 41 + 42 - Messi topped Gerd Müller's previous European record of 67 goals on May 2 against Malaga.
43, 44, 45 + 46 - Messi's third four goal game came against Espanyol on May 5. He scored all of Barcelona's goals in a 4-0 win.
47- Messi scored the second goal in the Copa Del Rey Final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25.
June
48 - Messi scored his first World Cup qualifying goal on June 3 against Ecuador. Argentina won 4-0.
49, 50 + 51 - Messi scored a hat trick against Brazil on June 9 in a friendly in New Jersey.
August
52 - Messi added another goal two months later on August 15 against Germany as Argentina won 3-1.
53 + 54 - Messi started the 2012-13 Spanish League season with a brace against Real Sociedad on August 19.
55 - Scored his first goal against Real Madrid of 2012 on August 23 in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup.
56 + 57 - Scored the two goals against Osasuna on August 26 as Barcelona won 2-1.
58 - Messi's side lost the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup on August 29. It was one of two matches that saw a Messi goal and loss in the same match in 2012.
September
59 - Another set piece goal on September 8 in a World Cup qualifier against Paraguay. Argentina won 3-1.
60 + 61 - Messi came off the bench against Getafe on September 15 and added a brace in Barcelona's 4-1 win.
62 + 63 - Got the 2012-13 Champions League seasons started on September 19 as he helped Barcelona overcome a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2.
October
64 + 65 - Faced off against Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid on October 7 in a battle that saw the two stars score a deuce. The final scored ended 2-2 and included a gorgeous Messi free kick goal.
66 + 67 - Messi scored two more on October 13 against Uruguay in a 3-0 World Cup Qualifying win. He also had a key role in the other goal Argentina scored.
68 - Just four days later on October 17, Messi scored Argentina's first goal in a 2-1 win over Chile in another World Cup qualifier.
69, 70 + 71 - Messi was the tonic for an ailing Barcelona defense on October 20 against Deportivo. His first hat trick of the 2012-13 season helped Barcelona win 5-4.
72 + 73 - Messi scored his 300th goal for Barcelona on October 27 against Rayo Vallecano in a 5-0 Barcelona win.
November
74 - The other match that featured a Messi goal and loss came on November 7 against Celtic in the Champions League.
75 + 76 - Messi surpassed Pele's record of 75 goals in a calendar year on November 11 when he added a brace against Mallorca in Barcelona's 4-2 win.
77 + 78 - Messi added another brace on November 17 against Zaragoza in a 3-1 Barcelona win.
79 + 80 - Messi scored his third straight brace for Barcelona on November 20 in a 3-0 Champions League win against Spartak Moscow. He topped Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record of 56 goals in the Champions League.
81 + 82 - Messi's fourth straight brace for Barcelona came on November 25 against Levante. Barcelona won 4-0.
December
83 + 84 - Messi scored his fifth straight two goal match for Barcelona which recorded it best ever start in a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao on December 1st.
85 + 86: Messi scored two goals against Real Betis on December 9 days after suffering a knee injury. While his streak of two goal games was broken days earlier against Porto, Messi broke another record when he scored his fifth straight two goal game in the Spanish league.
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