Messi plays down goal chase

Lionel Messi is focused on maintaining Barcelona's winning run of form as opposed to chasing a new goals record for 2012.

The Argentinian forward hit his 300th and 301st career goals in Saturday's 5-0 romp against Rayo Vallecano, while it takes him to 13 in the league this season and 73 in all competitions in 2012. As a result Messi is just two goals behind Pele's 75 for Santos and Brazil in 1959, and only 12 behind Gerd Mueller's all-time best calendar year record of 85 for Bayern Munich and West Germany in 1972. But he is only interested in ensuring Barca stay on course for success in La Liga and in Europe this season. "Breaking Pele's record is the least I'm worried about," he told reporters. "We won at a difficult ground, and that was the most important thing." Messi added: "We feel really comfortable on the pitch. "It's important that we keep on winning and we hope to continue on form. We're having really bad luck with injuries, but we're all playing at a high level."