Cristiano Ronaldo took 21 more games than Lionel Messi to reach the 100 goal mark.
Barcelona star forward Lionel Messi on Wednesday surpassed Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to become the fastest to reach the 100 goal landmark in UEFA Champions League. The Argentinian scored twice against Chelsea at the Nou Camp in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 fixture to help his side attain a 3-0 victory against the Antonio Conte’s side. With the feat, Messi reached the 100 goal-landmark in just 123 games in the tournament and became only the second player in history to do so.
Ronaldo, who broke the record first, took 144 games to reach the mark. He reached the landmark in the quarterfinal of the tournament against Bayern Munich in the previous season. While the Portugal star continues to be top goalscorer in the European competition, having 117 goals in 155 games, his Barcelona rival is not far behind. Another interesting bit is the fact that both the stars have equal no. of hat-tricks in the competition, seven.
While it took Ronaldo 30 matches to get his first goal in the competition, Messi scored his first goal in his fourth appearance. Both the players have also scored 60-all-time group stage goals in the competition. In the ongoing season, the Real Madrid No. 7 has scored 12 goals in 8 appearances in the Champions League, while Messi has scored 6 goals in 6 appearances.
The Barcelona star was at his ultimate best against Chelsea on Wednesday, scoring twice and assisting Ousman Dembele for the third goal. He also scored his fastest goal in the tournament, getting one behind the net in just two minutes and eight seconds of play.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte praised the 30-year old and said, “He’s a player who can change the final result for any team he is playing in. But he started to play with Barcelona and, for sure, he will finish his career in Barcelona. Many teams can hope to have him in their team, but it won’t be possible. This is a great story for Barcelona and Messi. This type of player is born once every 50 years. We are talking about one single player with this capacity, with this ability, with these skills. He’s fantastic.”