Lionel Messi is now just 11 goals short of Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time Champions League scoring record after another virtuoso performance from the Paris Saint-Germain forward on Tuesday night.
The Argentine scored twice and assisted two more as PSG thrashed Maccabi Haifa 7-2, moving on to 129 Champions League goals in the process.
A record 80 of those have now come in the group stage of the competition – from just 85 such matches – while Messi also became the oldest player to both score twice and assist twice in the same Champions League game.
The 40-goal club’s newest member – Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah – also moved level with Juventus legend Alessandro del Piero on 42 goals, but he remains one behind Neymar, who increased his tally to 43 in that PSG rout.
