Messi defines an era

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Mar 20, 2012

[BY THE NUMBERS] At the age of only 24, Lionel Messi has broken Cesar Rodriguez's 57-year-old Barcelona career scoring record. Messi's hat trick in Tuesday night's 5-3 win over Granada increased his total to 234, two more than Cesar scored after it was determined by Barcelona and the newspaper La Vanguardia Cesar's career goal total was actually 232, not 235. Messi is also on course to shatter numerous of scoring records this season. "He is defining an era," said Barca keeper Victor Valdez. "He is the best." For more on the Messi scoring records ...

6
Messi's hat trick was his sixth of La Liga season, tying Cristiano Ronaldo's record set last season and matching his total for his first six seasons at Barca.

6
He has scored in all six competitions he has played for Barca this season: La Liga (34), UEFA Champions League (12), Spanish SuperCopa (3), Copa del Rey (2), FIFA Club World Cup (1), UEFA Super Cup (1).

7
He has scored in seven straight games. His Barca record is goals in nine straight games.

8
He has scored in eight straight games if you include his hat trick for Argentina against Switzerland.

17
He has scored 17 goals during his seven-game scoring streak -- 20 in his eight-game streak including the Argentina-Switzerland game.

34
He leads La Liga with 34 goals, two ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. The 34 goals tie the Barca record for La Liga goals in a season set by the Brazilian Ronaldo in 1996-97 and Messi two years ago.

54
His 54 goals in all competitions for Barcelona set a single-season record for a La Liga player.