Lionel Messi is just a handful of goal contributions away from becoming Inter Miami's record goal scorer and assists leader.
The 37-year-old routinely either finds the back of the net or sets up a fellow teammate whenever he's been fit and available for selection. Despite missing a huge chunk of the season due to an ankle injury suffered on international duty with Argentina, Messi's 32 goal contributions are only second in MLS behind Evander and reigning MVP Luciano Acosta—while only appearing in 18 matches.
Messi already broke one individual record earlier this season at home against New York Red Bulls. The Barcelona legend grabbed five assists—the most in one MLS match—and one goal with all six goal involvements coming in the second half of Miami's 6–2 comeback victory.
Miami is already chasing history as a team with the MLS single-season points record on the line on Oct. 19 vs. New England Revolution. With three more points, Miami will surpass the Revolution's 2021 record of 73 points and reach 74 points to claim the greatest regular season in MLS history.
Messi looks to play his part in helping Miami reach that record by adding on to his impressive 47 goal involvements in 35 appearances since joining the team in July 2023. Leo Campana stands alone at the top of Miami's all-time goalscoring chart with 32 strikes and he recently broke Gonzalo Higuaín's record of 29 goals in the 2–2 draw vs. Atlanta United.
However, Messi is only three goals away from surpassing Campana's tally and setting a new record as the team's leading goalscorer. It seems as if it's a matter of when, not if, for Messi to become Miami's leading goalscorer either in the final regular season match against New England or in the postseason, as long as he steers clean of injury.
Messi is also on the hunt to dish out more assists to his teammates in search of another team record. Robert Taylor currently holds the top spot on the assists chart with 18 in 107 appearances with Messi right behind him with 17 assists. This is another record that Messi should end up claiming and he could potentially put both the goals and assists records out of reach when he decides to retire.
If Messi isn't up to par, however, former Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba could surprise everyone and become the all-time assists leader with four assists as the 35-year-old has 15 in 47 matches. Regardless of who breaks the assists record, both Messi and Alba aim to put on a show in the coming months to lead Miami to MLS Cup glory.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lionel Messi is Close to Setting Two Inter Miami Records.