The Korea Herald

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Lionel Messi breaks Barca’s all-time scoring record

By Korea Herald

Published : March 21, 2012 - 18:59

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BARCELONA (AP) ― Lionel Messi broke Cesar Rodriguez’s 57-year-old Barcelona career scoring record, getting his eighth hat trick of the season in a 5-3 Spanish league win over Granada on Tuesday night that increased his goals total to 234.

Messi tied Cesar’s record on a left-footed shot in the 17th minute for his 232nd goal, then chipped the goalkeeper for a 3-2 lead in the 67th. He added a goal from a tight angle in the 86th, increasing his season total to a career-best 54.

A three-time FIFA player of the year, Messi has 17 goals during a seven-game scoring streak and leads La Liga with 34 goals, two ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

The hat trick was Messi’s 18th for Barcelona and gave him 154 goals in his last 153 games over three seasons. His six hat tricks in La Liga this season tie the record set by Ronaldo last year.

Late Monday, Barcelona announced Cesar’s total from 1942-55 was three fewer than the team previously said. A review by Barcelona’s Center of Documentation and Studies and the La Vanguardia newspaper determined Cesar did not score goals attributed to him during the 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50 and 1952-53 seasons and also credited him with an additional goal in 1945-46.

Italy

Mirko Vucinic scored on a 25-yard shot in the sixth minute of overtime, giving Juventus a 2-2 tie against AC Milan that advanced the hosts to the Italian Cup final on 4-3 aggregate.

Getting a rare start in his final season with Juventus, 37-year-old Alessandro Del Piero put the hosts ahead in the 28th minute. Djamel Mesbah tied the score in the 51st and second-half substitute Maxi Lopez silenced the Juventus Stadium with a powerful shot from the edge of the area in the 81st to tie the home-and-home total-goals series.

Germany

Substitute Ilkay Guendogan scored on the last shot of overtime, lifting Borussia Dortmund to a 1-0 win at second division Greuther Fuerth and a berth in the German Cup final on May 12. Guendogan’s shot from the edge of the penalty area hit a post and bounced off the back of goalkeeper Jasmin Fejzic into the net.

France

Champions League quarterfinalist Marseille lost its eighth straight game and was eliminated from the French Cup with a 3-2 quarterfinal defeat to non-league Quevilly.