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The Champions League returned last week with 16 games, over two nights, spread across an entire continent, but once again it was Lionel Messi who made the headlines.
Messi became the first player to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons with the first goal in Barcelona’s 5-1 defeat of Ferencvaros, bringing his score in the competition to 116.
Messi now has daylight between him and his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who will look to score in the 15th consecutive Champions League campaign this season when he returns from self-isolation. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema missed a chance to match the Argentine when he was left blank in his loss to Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Messi-Ronaldo debate, which has dominated world football for the past decade, still has a few rounds, as Barça and Juve are part of the same group. However, Ronaldo will miss the opportunity to reunite his rival tonight after returning another positive test for coronavirus. They are to meet again on December 8.
Here, Sportsmail breaks down their staggering numbers and Champions League records.
Who has scored the most goals in the Champions League?
Messi and Ronaldo are in a constant tug of war for individual records and accolades. When it comes to goals scored, Ronaldo leads by 14 with the score 130-116 for the former Juve Real Madrid player.
Messi has a better goal-per-game ratio, albeit with a mark of 0.8 in 144 appearances, while Ronaldo, who has played 170 games, has 0.76.
Messi has scored all of his Champions League goals with Barcelona, while Ronaldo has only reached 105 for a single club: Real Madrid. He also has goals for Manchester United in the competition.
Who has scored the most goals in the group stage?
Tonight’s match between Juve and Barça would have been the first time Messi and Ronaldo have met in the group stage, having met five times in subsequent rounds.
Messi has scored 69 goals in group stage matches, topping Ronaldo’s account of 63.
Messi has not only scored more goals than Ronaldo in the first matches of the tournament, he has also scored in fewer games. Ronaldo is the record holder for the most group stage appearances (89), while Messi (73) is sixth in the table.
Who are its victims?
Everyone has their favorites and Messi and Ronaldo are no different.
Messi has faced 42 opponents in Europe but has a soft spot for Arsenal, helping himself to score nine goals in six games against them, and four in one game during the 2009-10 campaign.
He has also found the net eight times against AC Milan and Celtic, seven times against Bayer Leverkusen and six against Manchester City and Ajax.
Juventus star Ronaldo has played against 54 teams in the competition, facing 34 of them as a Real Madrid player, and his favorite team to score is the one he plays for now (so it’s no wonder he is! signed!)
Ronaldo has scored more goals against his current employer than any other team after putting 10 beyond them.
Ronaldo, however, spreads it more than Messi, registering seven against Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Schalke, as well as six against APOEL Nicosia, Galatasaray and Malmo.
Who hits the most knockout shots?
Ronaldo comes to life in the round of 16 with 67 goals to Messi’s 47
The Portuguese is the record holder for the most goals scored in the Champions League final with four out of six games. Next in line is his former Madrid teammate Gareth Bale (three), followed by a number of players, including Messi, with two.
Ronaldo is one of seven players to score twice in a final, in 2017 for Real Madrid against Juventus, while Messi has never scored a double in the most important match.
Three and easy: how many hat-tricks?
There’s nothing quite like a Champions League showboat and it’s safe to say that both players have had their fair share.
Messi and Ronaldo have each logged EIGHT hat-tricks during their Champions League careers so far.
Yet Messi stands alone as the man who scored FIVE goals in one game: Barca’s 7-1 destruction of Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 in 2011-12.
Ronaldo’s most notable hat-trick came against Atlético de Madrid, when he just canceled a 2-0 deficit in the first leg to send Juve to the quarter-finals in 2019.
But what about the ultimate prize?
Ronaldo has conquered Europe five times compared to Messi’s four.
Messi was the first to claim the trophy when Barcelona beat Arsenal in Paris in 2006, although he missed the final through injury and did not celebrate.
He more than made up for his disappointment when he scored Barça’s second goal in Rome’s 2009 victory over Man United to ruin Ronaldo’s last game in the red before leaving to join Real Madrid.
Messi lifted the trophy two more times, scoring in a man-of-the-match display against United again in 2011 at Wembley before beating Juventus in Berlin four years later.
Like Messi, Ronaldo suffered mixed emotions during his first Champions League win in 2008: he scored in regulation time before failing on penalties as Manchester United and Chelsea came the distance in Moscow.
Following his £ 80 million transfer to Real Madrid in 2009, Ronaldo had to wait five years for another final shot and scored the fourth goal of a 4-1 overtime win over Atlético.
Ronaldo and Real beat Atlético again in 2016, on penalties, and this time they did not fail, before their double against Juventus 12 months later and that triumph over Liverpool to complete three in a row for Madrid and five in total for him .
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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