Lionel Messi breaks calendar year scoring record with 85th and 86th goals

Just four days after being stretchered off the pitch with what turned out to be a minor knee injury, Lionel Messi only required the first 25 minutes of Barcelona's match against Real Betis to equal and surpass Gerd Muller's scoring record for a calendar year set in 1972. Messi scored in the 15th and 25th minutes to give Barca a 2-0 lead and swiftly end the focus on when he would beat the German legend's record.

Before Messi started to close in on Muller, the calendar year total for club and country was a little known record. Even though Muller's record has now been beaten, it shouldn't be forgotten. The now 67-year-old former Bayern Munich striker needed just 60 matches to score his 85 goals, whereas Messi needed 67 matches to score 86. Obviously both are extraordinary feats, but Muller's 85 in 60 should at least give Messi something to shoot for in 2013.

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