Argentina captain Lionel Messi has become the highest-scoring player in Champions League history, after a brilliant hat-trick took the Barcelona star past Raúl to 74 goals in Europe’s premier club football competition to help his team to a resounding 4-0 victory.
‘La Pulga’ found himself in the right place at the right time in the first half of Barca’s clash against APOEL today, poking home a loose ball in the box to smash the record held by the former Real Madrid striker.
And after half-time, Messi was left unmarked to pick up the ball in the APOEL box, pushing the ball in with his right foot to add another to his tally, putting Barca 3-0 ahead. The rout was completed just before the end when the Argentine converted Pedro’s low cross, finishing off an historic evening in style.
Uruguay’s Luis Suárez had earlier given the Catalans the lead in Cyprus to mark his first goal in Barcelona colours.
Astonishingly, it is the second milestone to fall for the Argentine in just four days. On Saturday Messi hit a hat-trick against Sevilla to pass Telmo Zarra as the Spanish league’s highest-ever goalscorer, with 253 strikes.
buenosairesherald.com