Lionel Messi has passed Pele’s milestone of goals in a calendar year by scoring for the 75th and 76th time in 2012.
The Argentine moved within nine of Gerd Muller’s all-time record and helped Barcelona win 4-2 at Mallorca in La Liga.
Xavi Hernandez scored in the 28th minute before Messi struck in the 44th. Cristian Tello added a third goal a minute later.
Mallorca replied twice but Messi made it 4-2 as Barcelona rebounded from their surprising 2-1 defeat at Celtic in the Champions League.
Pele scored 75 goals in 1958. Muller netted 85 in 1972.
Muller will perhaps be discouraged to hear that Messi is chasing another of his records having already surpassed one last season.
The prolific German hitman scored 67 goals for Bayern Munich in the 1972-73 season.
This remained the highest tally in a European club season until the diminutive Messi scored 73 for Barcelona in the 2011-12 campaign.
Messi has nine games left to score the ten goals to surpass Muller's 85 goals, and given his current run of form - 15 goals in 11 La Liga games - the 25-year-old is on course to usurp the German once more.
The striker set another record last season when he scored 50 goals in a La Liga season, moving to the top of Barcelona's all-time top goalscorer list in the process after surpassing Cesar Rodriguez’s 57-year milestone of 232 goals in March.
Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova expressed his delight at Messi's strike rate.
He said: 'Leo’s records are spectacular. It’s spectacular when you think that he scores so many goals.
'Some few players reach these numbers in seven or eight seasons, he does it in one. And most of his goals are great goals.'
La Liga champions Real Madrid were indebted to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and substitute Alvaro Morata in a 2-1 win at waterlogged Levante.
Ronaldo sustained a nasty cut above his left eye when he was caught by David Navarro’s elbow in Valencia but still went on to score.
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