Messi scores 700th club goal & Mbappe ties PSG record

MARSEILLE (Agencies): Lionel Messi scored his 700th club goal to help Paris St-Germain extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a convincing win over title-rivals Marseille.

The Argentina captain became the second player – after Cristiano Ronaldo – to reach the landmark total in Europe’s top-five leagues.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice to become PSG’s joint-record scorer alongside Edinson Cavani on 200 goals. The win leaves PSG eight points clear.

Mbappe opened the scoring in clinical fashion in the 25th minute from a Messi assist. The France striker then returned the favour for Messi to tap home at the Velodrome just four minutes later.

He then linked up with the Argentine to volley his second of the match 10 minutes into the second half. That took the 24-year-old to a double century of goals for PSG – level with former team-mate Cavani – in fewer than 250 appearances since signing from Monaco in 2017.

World Cup winner Messi has now scored 28 times for PSG since signing from Barcelona in December 2022. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he scored a record 672 goals in 778 games for Barca, the club he joined as a 13-year-old.

He has won the Ballon d’Or a record seven times and lifted 35 trophies with the Catalan club, before adding two more in his time with PSG. Messi, 35, is expected to win the Fifa Best award on Monday.

Ronaldo surpassed the 700 mark earlier this season, while still at Manchester United, before leaving for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia with 701 European club goals.

Messi is also Argentina’s record goalscorer and, on 98 goals, is closing in on becoming just the third player to score 100 times for his country. PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe will undergo surgery after rupturing his right Achilles tendon during the match, the club confirmed on Monday.