Lionel Messi dealt a blow in race to beat incredible Cristiano Ronaldo record after PSG suspension

PSG star Lionel Messi's chances of breaking an incredible record by his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo have been dealt a blow after his suspension.

The Argentine was penalized by the Parisians for his unapproved trip to Saudi Arabia on Monday and will now be sidelined from their games for two weeks.

That means Messi will now miss their games against Troyes and Ajaccio in Ligue 1, denying him an opportunity to add to his tally of 15 league goals this season.

However, more broadly, it also hurts the 35-year-old's chances of surpassing Ronaldo's unique milestone of scoring at least 20 top-flight goals in 13 seasons.

The Portuguese ace surpassed 20 league goals in a season in all nine years with Real Madrid, while he managed that once with Manchester United in the 2007-08 season. Ronaldo did that thrice with Juventus also (2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21).

Messi currently shares the record with his rival, having hit the 20-goal landmark in each of his last 13 seasons with Barcelona before his departure in 2021.

In his first year at PSG, he could only manage six goals as the Argentine superstar struggled to adapt to new surroundings. But he has found his shooting boots this time around.

With 15 goals in the current Ligue 1 campaign, the World Cup winner is among the most prolific scorers in the league and needs just five more to reach 20 goals.

However, now that he's suspended from PSG's next two top-flight matches, Messi will have to score five times in their final three games of the season to get the record. These matches will be against Auxerre, Strasbourg, and Clermont Foot.

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Lionel Messi has been unable to replicate his Barcelona numbers with PSG

Lionel Messi

Since joining PSG in 2021, Lionel Messi has been a far cry from his rip-roaring self at Barcelona. Sure, he's almost doubled his tally from his first season in the current one, but it's way short of the numbers the Argentine was accustomed to with the Catalans.

This could be down to two major reasons. This is the first time in his near-20-year club career that Messi has played for a club other than Barcelona, having spent all of his previous 17 years there. So, understandably, he's struggled to produce his best in new surroundings.

Secondly, there's the age factor. Messi turns 36 in June and some decline is natural for anyone of that age. It would be unrealistic to expect him to score 40+ goals at this stage of his career. However, that doesn't mean that the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner won't have another good run. His fans would certainly hope so.