CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: MESSI BREAKS RAUL’S RECORD WITH STUNNING HAT-TRICK
Lionel Messi once again lit up the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, netting a brilliant hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over APOEL Nicosia. With these three goals, the Argentine maestro not only led his team to victory but also etched his name deeper into football history.
Messi now holds the all-time record for most goals in the Champions League, surpassing Real Madrid legend Raúl. The new benchmark: 74 goals in just 91 appearances, an astonishing average of 0.79 goals per game. And the most impressive part? He’s still only 27.
Messi reacted with his trademark humility: “It’s wonderful to have broken this record in a competition like this, but the most important thing in all of this was to win the match.”
Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski praised him on Twitter: “Congratulations to Messi for breaking the record, what an achievement!”
This record comes just days after Messi’s hat-trick against Sevilla, which made him La Liga’s all-time top scorer, overtaking Telmo Zarra — a record that had stood since the 1950s.
Lionel Messi is not just breaking records — he’s redefining them.
