#6 Lionel Messi – Barcelona – 48 goals in first 100 games
It’s a bit of a surprise to see Lionel Messi ranked #6 in this list, but it makes sense when you take into account that the Argentine made his debut as a 17-yr-old winger in 2004, finishing his first season with just 77 minutes under his belt in 9 appearances as a substitute, scoring his first goal against Albacete in May, 2005.
Messi has scored 271 goals in his subsequent 255 games for the club, at a rate of 1.06 goals per game, which is more than twice his rate of 0.48 gpg in his first 100 games. Sevilla are Lionel Messi’s favourite opponents, who have conceded 26 times to the Argentine wizard, while Real Madrid have been at the wrong end of Messi’s goal-scoring magic 21 times.
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#5 Gareth Bale – Real Madrid – 50 goals in first 89 games
Real Madrid paid a world record fee for Gareth Bale, and the Welsh maestro has gone some way in repaying that amount. Bale has a very favourable record of scoring despite playing on the wings for a side tailored to suit Cristiano Ronaldo’s style of play. Bale however, makes do with an extremely great record of scoring with his head, one of the best in Europe.
Bale has yet to complete 100 games for Real Madrid, but even if he does not score for the next 11 games will still have a better start to his La Liga career than Leo Messi, in terms of goal-scoring. However, the Welshman seems to favour scoring against minnows, with Rayo Vallecano conceding 9 times against Bale, while he’s only scored once against Barcelona.
