Cristiano Ronaldo may hold the all-time Champions League lead over Lionel Messi, but on Wednesday Messi broke the tie with his rival for most teams he has scored against in the history of the competition.
The Argentine superstar added Maccabi Haifa to the list of clubs he fell victim to in Europe’s premier competition, with the Israeli side becoming the 39th side to be on the wrong side of one of their goals.
In the 37th minute of the second group stage game of PSG’s campaign, Kylian Mbappé sent a cross into the box which was deflected by a defender. The chance fell directly on Messi, who leapt with quick reflex to level the game at 1-1 after Maccabi Haifa’s shocking 24th-minute opener.
For Messi, it was his 126th career goal in the competition, putting him 14 behind Ronaldo’s all-time record. The former Barcelona star has the chance to gain ground on Ronaldo this season with Manchester United not participating in the Champions League.
The striker has now scored against teams from 18 different countries – he scored the most goals (nine) against Arsenal.
Here is a full list of the clubs Messi has scored against in the Champions League throughout his career:
AC Milan, Ajax, APOEL, Arsenal, AS Roma, Basel, BATE Borisov, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Celtic, Chelsea, Club Brugge, Copenhagen, Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencváros, Glasgow Rangers, Juventus, Liverpool, Lyon, Maccabi Haifa, Manchester City, Manchester United, Olympiacos, Napoli, Panathinaikos, PSG, PSV Eindhoven, RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moscow, Slavia Prague, Sporting Lisbon, Stuttgart, Tottenham, Viktoria Plzen and Werder Bremen.
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