By Chrysanthus Ikeh
Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi is now at par on the all-time Champions League goal scoring record list after equalling the record held by Real Madrid legend, Raul Gonzalez.
The Argentina forward, who was initially on 69 goals, went ahead of his arch rival, Cristiano Ronaldo who was on 7o goals, to achieve the landmark on Wednesday, November 5, 2014 by scoring twice in Barcelona’s Champions League win against Ajax FC of Holland.
The four-time World Player of the Year, who started as a youth player with Barcelona in 2000, has won six La Liga titles and three Champions League titles with the club and broken several records in his glittering career.
Lionel Messi achieved the milestone of 71 goals on only his 90th Champions League appearance for Barcelona while Raul Gonzalez needed 142 appearances while playing for Real Madrid and Schalke 04 to get the same number of goals.
On his own, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 70 goals in 107th Champions League appearances so far.
Check out the current Champions League top scorers standings below…
Joint 1st: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 71 goals, Raul Gonzalez (Real Madrid, Schalke) – 71
2nd: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid) – 70
3rd: Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid) – 56
4th: Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona) – 50
