They say that the only real competition is against the person you see in the mirror, and Lionel Messi has just surpassed himself. After scoring his first two goals of the year with Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer regular season against Orlando City (2-4 in favor of Javier Mascherano's team), the Argentine captain made history.

With more than two decades of experience, Leo managed not only to reach but also to surpass the scoring stats he recorded in his golden age wearing the Barcelona colors.

Leo defeats his biggest rival: himself

Since his arrival at Barça in 2004, the club where he trained and spent most of his professional career, Leo has left an indelible mark season after season. From his 35 titles to goals that made more than one fan scream, Messi lived his best sporting years wearing the Barcelona jersey.

In the 778 games he played for Barça, the '10' scored a total of 672 official goals, which translates to an average of 0.86 goals per game. This figure is surprising, to say the least, but what has stunned soccer fans is that someone else has already surpassed it... and that someone is himself.

At 38 years old and since his arrival at Inter Miami in 2023, the Argentine has transformed MLS and the club itself. Not only did his image attract thousands of fans to the league, but he also won four titles for David Beckham's team: the Leagues Cup, Supporter Shield, Conference Champion, and most recently, the MLS Cup.

However, in recent years, Leo has continued to demonstrate his precision and scoring ability and now has a total of 79 goals in 90 games, which equates to 0.88 per game, according to Bolavip.

Thus, not even Messi in Barcelona has a better goal average than Leo in Miami at the start of 2026. The curious and most amazing thing about this is that, by renewing his contract until December 2028, Lionel can continue to increase these numbers.

Meanwhile, his next goal will be Saturday's game on March 7 against D.C. United, where Inter Miami will visit M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.