"PR working overtime", "Look like he deserves the Ballon d’Or" - Fans call out media outlet for 'lying' about Lionel Messi's stats in 22/23 season

Famous Media outlet, Goal recently uploaded a post on their official social media accounts, where they talked about the 2022/23 season statistics of Lionel Messi. Instead of getting comments of appreciation, the post was met with sarcasm by the fans as they stated the media outlet was lying.

In the post made by Goal, it was stated that the former Paris Saint-Germain star scored 42 goals and accumulated 26 assists in the 2022-23 season. However, the post also got a community note on the social media application X, which read:

"This is not true. Lionel Messi has 38 Goals and 25 Assists in 2022/2023. The goal is lying about his stats to push Messi closer to Haaland's stats for the Ballon Dor."

Reacting to the community note presented by X (formerly known as Twitter), fans took hilarious digs at the Argentine playmaker as well as the media outlet. A few users called it a 'Public Relations Campaign'.

Others thought that it's been done on purpose to make Lionel Messi a Ballon d'Or contender ahead of Erling Haaland, who won a treble with Manchester City last season.

"That's the unfortunate truth, nobody can compete with Pessi's PR" A user commented on the post.

Here are a few more reactions to the post:

Lionel Messi is currently in blistering form as he helped Inter Miami win the Leagues Cup last month. In the Herons' last match in the Major League Soccer, Messi provided two assists against Los Angeles FC.

Argentina boss looks forward to playing Lionel Messi at World Cup qualifier

Argentina's head coach Lionel Scaloni has stated that he will not be resting Lionel Messi in La Albiceleste's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ecuador on Thursday. The 2022 World Cup winning coach said (via Goal):

"I see him well. He is available to play, and we are happy to have him, as I always say. The plan is for him to play. If he has nothing, he will play as much as he can. We have no other intention. For us, that he is on the field is important. There is no reason to save him if he has no problems."

Earlier this summer, Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami on a free transfer after the expiry of his deal at Paris Saint-Germain. Since joining the Herons, the Argentine playmaker has become the main figure in their line-up.

The 36-year-old stated had previously stated that the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be his last campaign in the quadrennial event. However, as he's participating in the qualifiers, fans have started making speculations about the Inter Miami star's appearance in the 2026 World Cup.