PSG's Lionel Messi edges past Cristiano Ronaldo with new UEFA Champions League record

Paris Saint-Germain maintained unbeaten run to their UEFA Champions League campaign after a come from behind 3-1 victory over Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Wednesday. The mighty trio of Kylian Mbappe, Messi and Neymar continued their sparkling form to propel a dominant PSG to easy win over Israeli champions.

UEFA Champions League: Messi outshines Ronaldo

By scoring the opening goal for PSG, Lionel Messi smashed Cristiano Ronaldo's record of scoring against 38 teams in the UEFA Champions League. After drawing a blank against Juventus last Tuesday, the Argentine skipper has now scored against 39 teams in Europe's elite competition. 

As it stands out, Messi has scored against teams from 19 different nations in the Champions League. The ex-Barcelona forward also scripted a Champions League history by scoring for the 18th consecutive season.

Messi now has 126 Champions League goals under his belt. At the moment, Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most goals in the competition. The Portuguese legend more than 130 goals to his name in the Champions League. Messi, a four-time Champions League winner, will have his sights set on the all-time top scorer record. 

Besides Messi, Kylian Mbappe also created a record for himself by becoming the joint-highest scorer for the club alongside Edinson Cavani. The French forward has scored 30 goals in 46 UEFA Champions League fixtures for PSG. Mbappe has scored 181 goals in overall 225 matches for PSG. The 23-year-old has 10 goals for PSG in all competitions this season. 

PSG vs Maccabi Haifa match highlights

PSG fell behind to Maccabi Haifa after the host took the lead in the 24th minute of the game after Tjaronn Chery volleyed the ball into the back of the net. However, PSG made their comeback starting with Lionel Messi's goal in the 37th minute following a brilliant assist from Kylian Mbappe.

Messi’s returned the favour with an assist to Mbappe who ran down the left-hand side and clipped the ball into the bottom right corner in th 69th minute. Neymar scored the third goal in the 88th minute after he latched onto Marco Verratti’s lofted pass from midfield. The Brazilian controlled the ball on his right thigh and drilled it into the goal to end his barren run in the Champions League dating back to December 2020.