Messi hoping to equal Pedro's record against Santos
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is hoping to equal teammate Pedro’s record of scoring in all six official tournaments in which his club has taken part this year, provided he can get on the scoresheet in the World Club Cup Final against Santos on Sunday.
Pedro achieved the feat in 2009 and so far this year Messi has been on target in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the Supercopa de España and the Supercopa de Europa. Having failed to hit the back of the net in the 4-0 semi-final win over Qatari side Al-Sadd, the Argentine international has another opportunity in Yokohama to set yet another milestone in his career.
In the 2010-11 campaign he finished second in the La Liga goalscoring charts with 31, nine behind Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, and has already notched 17 this term. It was a similar story in the Copa del Rey where he also contributed some important goals, including two in the semi-final against Almería.
In the Champions League, Messi finished as the tournament’s leading scorer on 12 and in the Supercopa de España against Real Madrid managed one in the first leg (2-2) and two in the return at the Camp Nou (3-2); Porto were also on the receiving end in the Supercopa de Europa when he scored one in a 2-0 Barca victory in the Luis II stadium in Monaco.
The possibility of ‘La Pulga’ equalling the record is not the first time he has been close to achieving the feat, having missed out in the Supercopa de Europa in 2009 when Pedro’s strike was enough to beat the Ukrainians. Even so, Pedro is confident Messi can get the goal he needs and said this weekend: “Messi can always score and it would be good if he could do it, because he deserves it. He is the best.”
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