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Lionel Messi is on pace to smash a record set by Brazillian great, Edson Arantes do Nascimiento, otherwise known as Pele.
The Argentine scored a hat trick as Barcelona defeated Deportivo la Coruna 4-3 in a turpsy turvy La Liga game on saturday, to bring his total number of goals scored in the year to 71.
This was one goal more than the 70 he scored in 2010, when he set a new personal record.
Pele
In 1959, Pelé scored 75 times in a single year, 66 for his club Santos and 9 for Brazil. Messi, who has scored 59 for Barça and 12 for Argentina, is only four goals short of the total reached by the man considered by many as the greatest footballer ever.
The Barça forward has already scored 15 goals this season. Eleven of those were in the la Liga, making him the competition's top scorer.
The odd thing is that they came in four pairs, scored against Real Sociedad, Osasuna, Getafe and Real Madrid, plus the hat-trick against Deportivo.
