"With Lionel Messi about to fight for his fourth Champions League title this Saturday in Berlin, his record, his stats and his growing impact make a comparison between him and the man that has always been considered the best player of all time, Pelé, unavoidable", assures the magazine, although it also accepts that comparing these two football maestros is akin to comparing Elvis with Mozart or Rembrandt with Dalí.
But there is certain information that is comparable, such as for example goals scored. When Pelé turned 20 he had already scored 300. In his entire career, he put the ball in the back of the net 1,281 times, 784 of them in official matches.
The Argentine, who will soon be celebrating his 28th birthday, has played eleven seasons as a professional. In that time he has racked up 500 strikes for Barcelona and the Argentina team.
Pelé's record for a season was 66 in 1956 (100 in 1959 and 110 in 1961 if we include exhibition games), while Messi scored 91 goals in 2012 (96 including friendlies). Four-times Ballon d'Or winner Messi usually scores in the finals, but has a lower strike rate than 'O Rei' did, revered by many as the best football player of the 20th century.
According to France Football, the overriding difference between the two players is that "Pele's name is always linked to the World Cup." The Brazilian ace will always be remembered for setting the World Cup on fire in 1958, when at just 17 years old he scored twice in the final, for his magic in 1962 and "above all for the 1970 edition, when he opened up the scoring in the final."
"The last World Cup that Pelé played in is the stuff of legend, while Messi's present last World Cup was a bitter disappointment", when Argentina lost the Brazil 2014 final to Germany.
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