Lionel Messi was at it again in 2019 when he emerged as the most successful player in the history of the FIFA Player of the Year award and the Ballon d'Or, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Buffon, Deontay Wilder and Allyson Felix also had their share of the record record-breaking.
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10 top sports records that were broken in 2019
There have been some incredible sporting achievements in 2019 with a flurry of new records set.
Records broken in 2019
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Real Madrid became the first club to reach UEFA Champions League knockout stage 23 successive times
10 sports records broken in 2019
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The Los Blancos drew two all against Paris Saint Germain to book a place in the round of 16 of the 2019-2020 UEFA Champions League.
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This was the 23rd time Real Madrid reached the UEFA Champions League knockout stage, which is the highest in the history of the competition.
Lionel Messi becomes the player to score against most opponents in Champions League
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Lionel Messi on 28th November, 2019 made history as the player who has scored against most opponents in the UEFA Champions League to surpass rival Cristiano Ronaldo and his former Real Madrid teammate Raul Gonzalez.
Messi featuring in his 700th game for Barcelona crowned it with a scintillating performance: scored and produced two assists as the Catalans defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-1.
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On top of that, that goal meant that he's now scored against 34 different opponents in the Champions League - a competition record.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez are behind him on 33 opponents each.
Messi has only failed to find the net against five teams he's faced in the Champions League: Atletico Madrid, Rubin Kazan, Udinese, Inter and Benfica.
The Argentine has the chance to make it 35 victims when he and Barcelona travel to play Inter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in December.
Good form Messi is now on to 10 goals for the season in Blaugrana colours, and that's despite starting the campaign with a calf injury.
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He's scored twice in the Champions League and eight times in LaLiga Santander.
US sprinter Allyson Felix breaks Usain Bolt’s record at World Athletic Championship
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Allyson Felix broke Usain Bolt's record after winning her 12th gold medal at the 2019 World Championships on the mixed-gender 4x400m relay team.
She now holds the record for the most gold medals at the track and field World Championships.
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Felix only returned to the sport in July after a 13-month layoff which saw her give birth to her daughter Camryn by emergency C-section last November.
Her 12th gold medal broke Jamaican legend Bolt's record tally of 11 at the world championships.
Overall, Felix now has an incredible 26 medals, a dazzling haul that also includes six Olympic golds.
Felix, competing in her ninth straight world championships, has accumulated more World Championship and Olympic honours than any other track and field athlete in history.
Deontay Wilder equals Mohammed Ali’s 10 consecutive title defense
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Photo by AP Photo/John Locher
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder tied Muhammad Ali with his 10th consecutive title defense against Luis Ortiz last November in Las Vegas.
Wilder emerged as the winner with a 7th round knockout over a very determined Ortiz (31-2, 26 KOs), who battled him tooth and nail every second of the fight until being knocked out.
Wilder fights nothing like Ali though, but he still respects him a great deal. Deontay fights more like Cleveland Williams (80-13-1, 60 KOs) than he does Ali, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Williams was a very good fighter in the era of a young Ali, Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson, among many others.
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Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) is shaking up the boxing world with his incredible knockout record. Only two fighters have been able to go the full 12 round distance against Wilder in Bermane Stiverne and Tyson Fury.
Messi surpasses Xavi to record most Barcelona wins
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No player in the history of Barcelona has won more matches than its current captain Lionel Messi after Sunday's victory at Real Betis.
Lionel Messi has played in more wins for Barcelona than any other player in the history of the club.
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Messi was in inspirational form with a superb hat-trick as Barcelona won 4-1 at Real Betis to move 10 points clear at the top of the La Liga table.
On his 674th appearance for Barca - drawing him level with Andres Iniesta on their all-time list - Messi recorded his 477th victory for the club.
Barcelona’s success at the Benito Villamarin meant Messi had surpassed former team-mate Xavi, who previously held the record for Barca wins and is the only player to have made more appearances for the Catalan giants.
Messi's feat came at the end of a week that saw him produce a virtuoso display to send Barca into the quarterfinals of the 2018/19 Champions League. He scored twice and provided two assists as Barca demolished Lyon 5-1 at Camp Nou to book a last-eight clash with Manchester United.
Most Bundesliga titles: Franck Ribery
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10 sports records broken in 2019
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Bayern Munich legend Franck Ribery emerged as the all-time Bundesliga record champion, with the Bavarians' 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt on the final day of 2018/19 allowing the 36-year-old Frenchman to lift an unprecedented ninth Meisterschale.
Fittingly, the Bayern veteran played his part in getting the record champions over the line on Matchday 34, chipping in a delightful effort midway through the second half as he bid a perfect farewell to the Allianz Arena.
Ribery arrived from Marseille back in the summer of 2007, inheriting the iconic No.7 shirt from retiring club legend Mehmet Scholl and inspiring the record champions to a Bundesliga and DFB Cup double in his very first season. Twelve years later, he has come to the end of his glittering adventure in Bavaria, but bows out with his name writ large in the history books.
Gianluigi Buffon: Most consecutive titles in Europe’s top five leagues
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10 sports records broken in 2019
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The Italian after winning seven consecutive league titles with Juventus in the Serie A left Paris Saint Germain in the French Ligue 1 and continued his success there by claiming eight consecutive top-flight title in top five big leagues in Europe.
Gianluigi Buffon was tied with Gregory Coupet, Sidney Govou and Juninho Pernambucano who won seven successive titles with Lyon from 2002 to ’08, so he gone a step further.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first player to win leagues in England, Spain & Italy
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The 34-year-old won the Italian Serie A title with Juventus in the 2018/19 season.
By doing so Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in history to win league titles in the English Premier League (with United), the Spanish league (Madrid) and Serie A (Juventus).
Other players have won titles in three of the five major European leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France) but nobody had previously put together the combination of England, Spain and Italy.
Most FIFA Player of the Year winner- Lionel Messi
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Lionel Messi won the 2019 FIFA Player of the Year award to become the first player to do so.
Messi, who won the Spanish La Liga title with Barcelona last season as well as the European golden boot having scored 54 goals in 58 games in all competitions, last won the award in 2015.
He has been crowned winner of the FIFA Player of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019.
The Argentine beat off competition from Van Dijk and rival Cristiano Ronaldo to make history.
Most Ballon d’Or winner-Lionel Messi
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10 sports records broken in 2019
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Lionel Messi was adjudged the 2019 Ballon d'Or winner, claiming football's top individual prize for a record sixth time.
The voting ended with Messi being chosen as the leading player on the planet at this time, and it's actually his first triumph in this regard since 2015, after three years of Real Madrid control with Cristiano Ronaldo and Modric.
Messi finished ahead of Virgil van Dijk, despite the fact the Dutchman helped drive Liverpool to Champions League glory and the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
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