Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Benzema: Who has most top-flight goal involvements?

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·22 October 2022

Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Benzema: Who has most top-flight goal involvements?

Lionel Messi continued his impressive start to the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season on Friday evening, entering a superb all-round performance as Paris Saint-Germain sauntered to a 3-0 victory at Ajaccio.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner was involved in every one of PSG’s goals on the night.

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Midway through the first period at the Stade Francois Coty, Messi played in Kylian Mbappe for the opening goal with a pinpoint pass.

The Argentine superstar then effectively sealed the points for his side 11 minutes from time when he cooly finished a sublime team move.

There was still time for the 35-year-old to turn playmaker again, though, as he found Mbappe for the second time in the match, who wasted no time in putting the ball in the back of the net.

That assist for the final goal of the evening was a significant one for Messi as it marked his 700th goal involvement in European top-flight football.

Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar: Where did these 40 players make their pro debut?

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Lionel Messi made his professional football debut for which club?

Real Madrid Atletico Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Barcelona

When you consider that those 700 goals and assists have come in just 556 games, the feat becomes all the more impressive.

While we can't claim that to be an all-time record due to the lack of availability of historical data, we can look at where Messi stands in comparison with some of the biggest names in the modern game, including his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Reddit user Nouri34ever crunched the numbers following Messi's masterclass. Among those with full career records available for comparison include Ronaldo, 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.

Check out how the four modern-day legends compare below. All figures are taken per FBREF.

Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Benzema: Who has the most top-flight career goal involvements?

Karim Benzema | 384 goals & assists (534 games)

Lyon | 2004 - 2009 | 43 goals/13 assists (112 games)Real Madrid | 2009 - present | 224 goals/104 assists (422 games)

The French superstar is just one year younger than Messi and has played only 22 less top-flight games in his career.

However, for all of his success in recent years, Benzema has notched barely half the goal involvements that Messi has to his name.

Robert Lewandowski | 421 goals & assists (452 games)

Robbed of the 2020 Ballon d'Or trophy when the awards ceremony was shelved by France Football due to global pandemic, Lewandowski's strike rate in the Bundesliga for Bayern was exceptional at close to a goal a game across more than 250 appearances.

The veteran Polish striker has continued that impressive ratio in La Liga since moving to Camp Nou over the summer.

However, he won't go down as one of the greatest playmakers in the history of the game, as his overall combined numbers show.

Cristiano Ronaldo | 636 goals & assists (649 games)

Given that he's currently suspended by Manchester United, you have to wonder how many more opportunities Ronaldo will have to add to his top-flight tally.

Already 64 goals involvements behind Messi at time of writing, the idea of 37-year-old Ronaldo managing to even reach the 650 mark seems far fetched.

At the international level, Ronaldo has been borderline untouchable, but his race now appears to have been run. He has just a single goal to his name for United this season.

Lionel Messi | 700 goals & assists (556 games)

Barcelona | 2004 - 2021 | 474 goals/191 assists (519 games)Paris Saint-Germain | 2021 - present | 12 goals/13 assists (37 games)

Messi was omitted from the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist for the first time since 2005 in 2022. In truth, his opening season with PSG was nothing to write home about.

However, the 35-year-old has definitely turned a corner this term - and can already boast six goals and nine assists from his opening 11 Ligue 1 games.

To put Messi's numbers into perspective, Manchester City Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has begun his career like a house on first and still has less than 140 top-flight goals and assists to his name.

That's under 1/5th of Messi's total haul - and Haaland is now in his seventh season as a professional.

Fans on Reddit were blown away by Messi's numbers in comparison to his peers and we've included the best of their reaction below.