The rivalry between the two continues unabated but Lionel Messi’s latest achievement is likely to stir up Cristiano Ronaldo bile even more over his failed transfer away from Manchester United.<\/p>\n
In his latest exploits, Messi set two new Champions League records on Wednesday night to move past his long-term Portuguese sporting rival Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
The Argentine superstar effortlessly netted from close-range to draw Paris Saint-Germain level away to Maccabi Haifi in Israel after Tjaronn Chery had given the home side a shock lead \u2013 netting their first goal in the competition (outside of qualification matches) for two decades.<\/p>\n
The Israeli side\u2019s advantage lasted only 14 minutes as Messi found space inside the area to bag an equaliser in the 37th minute after Kylian Mbappe\u2019s probing run.<\/p>\n
That strike was eponymous as it meant that Messi set multiple Champions League\u00a0competition records with that feat. For one, Maccabi Haifa became the 39th club that the 35-year-old had scored against in the competition. That is more than any other player, moving him clear of Ronaldo \u2013 who had netted against 38 different teams in the trophy.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, it was the first time that Messi had scored a goal against a club from Israel, meaning that he has now scored against at least one club from all 19 different nations he has faced in the Champions League across his career.<\/p>\n
The Argentine\u2019s strike equates another competition record as it also meant that it was the 18th successive season in a row in which he had scored in the Champions League. His first goal in the competition came in the 2005\/06 campaign for Barcelona\u00a0against Greek team Panathinaikos.<\/p>\n
However, in terms of the number of overall goals scored in the Champions League, Ronaldo is still ahead Messi. The Portuguese forward has a total of 140 goals in the competition, while the strike in Haifa moved Messi on to 126 \u2013 14 goals behind the Manchester United\u00a0forward.<\/p>\n
Insofar as the competition\u2019s all-time scoring records are concerned, the two superstars are comfortably in the clear, with third-placed Robert Lewandowski sitting on 89 goals while Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are on 35 and 25 goals, respectively.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo, to his detriment, is not involved in the Champions League this season after United\u2019s failure to qualify from last season\u2019s Premier League, in which they finished in sixth position.<\/p>\n
This is the first season that Ronaldo has not been involved in Europe\u2019s premier club competition since 2002\/03, before his first switch to Old Trafford from Sporting CP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"