Paris Saint-Germain forward, Lionel Messi has suffered a blow to break an incredible record set by his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo after his suspension.
Messi was penalized by PSG for his unapproved trip to Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The Argentina World Cup winner will now be sidelined from PSG’s games for two weeks.
That means Messi will now miss PSG’s 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 Messi’s chances of surpassing Ronaldo’s unique milestone of scoring at least 20 top-flight goals in 13 seasons.
Ronaldo surpassed 20 league goals in a season in all nine years with Real Madrid, while he managed that once with Manchester United in the 2007-2008 season.
The Portugal captain did that thrice with Juventus also (2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021).
Messi currently shares the record with Ronaldo, having hit the 20-goal landmark in each of his last 13 seasons with Barcelona before his departure to PSG in 2021.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner may have to wait for a while as a result of his suspension.
In his first year at PSG, Messi could only score six goals as he struggled to adapt to new surroundings. But the 35-year-old has found his shooting boots this season.