The Road to 72

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The accomplishments just keep piling up for Lionel Messi. Despite an unexpected elimination in the Champions League, Messi responded with 9 goals this week including 4 more today against Espanyol. Messi now has 50 in La Liga play, including 8 hat tricks, and 72 goals across all competitions this season for Barcelona. To put his 50 league goals in perspective, he has more goals than 13 entire teams in La Liga: Racing Santander, Sporting Gijon, Real Zaragoza, Villareal, Granada, Real Sociedad, Espanyol, Real Betis, Getafe, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla FC, Osasuna and Mallorca.

Here's a look back at Messi's road to 72:

08/14/11 - 1 (1) - Super Cup vs Real Madrid (A)
08/17/11 - 2 (3) - Super Cup vs Real Madrid (H)
08/26/11 - 1 (4) - UEFA Super Cup vs FC Porto (H)
08/29/11 - 2 (6) - La Liga vs Villareal (H)
09/17/11 - 3 (9) - La Liga vs Osasuna (H)
09/24/11 - 3 (12) - La Liga vs Atlético Madrid (H)
09/28/11 - 2 (14) - UEFA Champions League vs BATE Borisov (A)
10/15/11 - 2 (16) - La Liga vs Racing Santander (H)
10/29/11 - 3 (19) - La Liga vs Mallorca (H)
11/01/11 - 3 (22) - UEFA Champions League vs Viktoria Plzen (A)
11/06/11 - 1 (23) - La Liga vs Athletic Bilbao (A)
11/19/11 - 1 (24) - La Liga vs Real Zaragoza (H)
11/23/11 - 1 (25) - UEFA Champions League vs AC Milan (A)
11/29/11 - 1 (26) - La Liga vs Rayo Vallecano (H)
12/03/11 - 1 (27) - La Liga vs Levante (H)
12/18/11 - 2 (29) - Club World Cup vs Santos FC (A)
01/04/12 - 2 (31) - Copa del Rey vs Osasuna (H)
01/15/12 - 2 (33) - La Liga vs Real Betis (H)
01/22/12 - 3 (36) - La Liga vs Málaga (A)
02/04/12 - 1 (37) - La Liga vs Real Sociedad (H)
02/14/12 - 1 (38) - UEFA Champions League vs Bayer Leverkusen (A)
02/19/12 - 4 (42) - La Liga vs Valencia (H)
02/26/12 - 1 (43) - La Liga vs Atlético Madrid (A)
03/07/12 - 5 (48) - UEFA Champions League vs Bayer Leverkusen (H)
03/11/12 - 2 (50) - La Liga vs Racing Santander (A)
03/17/12 - 1 (51) - La Liga vs Sevilla FC (A)
03/20/12 - 3 (54) - La Liga vs Grenada (H)
03/24/12 - 1 (55) - La Liga vs Mallorca (A)
03/31/12 - 1 (56) - La Liga vs Athletic Bilbao (H)
04/03/12 - 2 (58) - UEFA Champions League vs AC Milan (H)
04/07/12 - 2 (60) - La Liga vs Real Zaragoza (A)
04/10/12 - 1 (61) - La Liga vs Getafe (H)
04/14/12 - 2 (63) - La Liga vs Levante (A)
04/29/12 - 2 (65) - La Liga vs Rayo Vallecano (A)
05/02/12 - 3 (68) - La Liga vs Málaga (H)
05/05/12 - 4 (72) - La Liga vs Espanyol (H)

20 in 20 Words or Less

Here we go:

MLB

1) Yu Darvish Signs - It cost $111M, but Texas locked up Darvish for six years. Hopefully he's not the next Hideki Irabu.

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2) Joel Zumaya to Minnesota - Hard throwing when healthy, Zumaya hasn't pitched more than 31 games since 2006. If healthy, could help depleted Twins bullpen.

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3) 49 Years Young - Jamie Moyer is back for another season. The 24-year vet has a minor league deal with the Rockies.

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4) Oh Good, We Got Jack Cust - Interesting pickup for the Astros as they have a surplus of young outfielders. At least he draws lots of walks.

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SOCCER

5) Barcelona Owns Real Madrid - Barca rallies for a 2-1 win on the road in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

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6) Beckham Re-ups with Galaxy - Becks to stay in L.A. for another two years. Galaxy will need him for their title defense.

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7) USMNT and U-23s Draw in Scrimmage 1-1 - Graham Zusi (Sporting KC) scores for the senior squad, but Jack McInerney (Union) equalized in the second half.

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NBA

8) Wizards beat the Thunder??? - Best record versus worst record and worst record wins. Just Washington's second win of the season.

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9) Love Does What he Does - 20 points and 17 rebounds versus Detroit last night. 14 games, 14 double doubles on the year.

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10) 25 Boards for Dwight Howard - 5th time this season Howard has gone for at least 20 rebounds. 25 sets a new season high.

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11) Melo Slumping - The Knicks have dropped 4 straight, and Anthony's shooting isn't helping. Anthony's hit just 14 of his last 49 shots.

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NCAA

12) Murray State Wins Again - The Racers improve to 19-0 after rallying from 11 points down to beat Morehead State 66-60.

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13) Baylor Ladies 18-0 - Brittney Griner finished with 21 points and 8 blocks as the Lady Bears beat #20 Texas Tech 72-64.

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NHL

14) NHL Selects All Star Captains - Ottawa Winger Daniel Alfredsson and Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara will be the captains for the 2012 NHL All Star Game.

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

15) Roddick/Fish Both Out - The two top ranked American men's singles players, Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick, failed to get out of Round 2.

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16) Top Four Men's Seeds Advance - Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray all through to the third round.

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17) Serena Through to the Third Round - 12th seed Serena Williams defeats Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova to advance to Round 3.

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NFL

18) Eli Out Sick - The Giants QB was limited in practice yesterday because of what coach Tom Coughlin called "a stomach bug."

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19) Peyton Retirement Rumors from Rob Lowe? - Lowe tweeted yesterday he'd heard from "my people" that the Indianapolis Colts quarterback would retire. Who are Lowe's "people"?

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20) Brady Misses Practice - Tom Brady did not practice Wednesday because of a left shoulder injury. If you think he'll sit Sunday you're nuts.

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