Cristiano Ronaldo may be the record goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history, but Lionel Messi extended one of his own records over his longstanding rival with his goal against Juventus this week.
The Argentine netted FC Barcelona’s second goal from the penalty spot in their 2-0 win over Juventus on Wednesday night.
It was his second goal in as many Champions League games this season, and his 117th overall in the competition – only Ronaldo has more with 130 strikes.
Messi, though, also extended his own competition record for the most goals scored during the group stage.
He has now netted 70 times before the knockout rounds, seven more than Ronaldo has. The Juventus superstar missed the reunion with his longstanding rival this week after testing positive for COVID-19, and reacted furiously upon hearing the news.
The 35-year-old has now sat out both of Juve’s UCL matches so far in this campaign, and scored his last goal in the competition in the Bianconeri’s round of 16 defeat to Olympique Lyon in the 2019/20 edition of the tournament.
Overall, Messi has found the back of the net 70 times in 73 group stage appearances, while Ronaldo netted his 63 group stage goals in 89 games.
As a consequence, the Argentine has a scoring rate of almost one goal per game in the competition’s group stages, 0.96 to be exact, while Ronaldo’s goal ratio is 0.71 strikes per match at this stage of the tournament.
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
