Messi closes in on Pele milestone

Barcelona star Lionel Messi is closing in on yet another milestone, and the Barcelona could yet surpass the achievements of Brazilian legend Pele by the end of Tuesday's encounter with Celtic.

Pele managed a quite incredible 75 goals in a calendar year for Santos and Brazil way back in 1959 and Messi is just four goals way from drawing level with the three-time World Cup winner.

Messi has netted 71 times for Barcelona and Argentina in 2012, with 15 of those goals coming in just 12 games for his club this season.

Five goals against Celtic at the Camp Nou tonight for Messi may seem a generous prediction, but the 25-year-old completed the same feat for Barcelona in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen back in March.

Should the Barcelona forward move past Pele in the record books, then the next player in his sights will be former Germany and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Muller, who scored 85 times in 1972.

Given his unbelievable form over the past two seasons, Messi will surely surpass Muller before the end of 2012, and break yet even more records - some of which may never be equalled.