Fifteen years after his first goal, Barcelona's captain Lionel Messi scored his 700th, in the second period of a match against Atletico, causing football fans around the world to celebrate the achievement.
It took the Argentine-born forward over 860 games to score his 700 goals. He shares this record with Cristiano Ronaldo, a world-famous, Portuguese-born footballer, who nonetheless required 974 matches to reach the remarkable result.
Social media users praised Messi's 'panenka' during a penalty shot - a technique used to deceive the goalkeeper, making him pick a side, while the ball is then headed toward the centre.
Paneka against the best GK in the league only Messi 🐐 things #Messi700 pic.twitter.com/gnCjlel0Ee
— Magisterial Messi (@MessiLiio) June 30, 2020
While celebrating Messi's achievement, netizens pointed out how he marked it himself - some users said that he took inspiration from his son's ideas.
Messi has just been getting goal celebration ideas from his son😅 pic.twitter.com/mLPLskC2Lz
— ʀᴏʏ - ᴛʜᴇ - ᴅᴇᴠᴇʟᴏᴘᴇʀ (@royGED) June 30, 2020
What a way to score his 700th career goal this night with a cheeky penalty.... GOAT🐐🐐❣️🙌💙❤️ #Messi #respectme pic.twitter.com/DygMkEKfa2
— Señor Chulo (@jherrymeriels) June 30, 2020
700th career goal for 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi:🤔🔥💪🏟⚽️👇
— Soccer Patriots (@socapatriots) June 30, 2020
📊 Games: 861
⚽️ Goals: 700
🅰️ Assists: 320#soccerpatriots #GiftedEra pic.twitter.com/LYp2CH04JC
May 2019: Lionel Messi scores his 600th club goal with a free-kick against Alisson.
— Phyllis Colon (@Phyllis31821439) June 30, 2020
June 2020: Lionel Messi scores his 700th career goal with a Panenka penalty against Jan Oblak.
Best goalkeepers in the world? No problem. pic.twitter.com/XGQvEi7dRD
Some could not help but compare him with Cristiano Ronaldo - the only other player to score 700 goals. Ronaldo has more goals but it has taken him more games to reach this number.
Fun Fact:
— Izu ❤💙 (@Izu_fcb) June 30, 2020
It took Ronaldo 974 matches to reach his 700th career goal (with 121 penalties).
Messi took 862 (112 games less) to reach his 700th with just 89 penalties.
Choose your GOAT 🐐 wisely pic.twitter.com/6whR8ZSrhd
Some users rolled out graphics showing exactly how the two famous footballers have scored their goals, revealing that unexpected body parts can help you to be a champion.
—How Messi scores 700 goals.
— MKnaldo7 (@MKnaldo7) June 30, 2020
—How Ronaldo scored 700 goals. pic.twitter.com/fEwPlrS9wa
