Barcelona’s Lionel Messi equalled the 71-goal record of Raúl. Here we chart the trajectory of their scoring rates, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo’s as he lurks just a goal behind

On Wednesday, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi became the joint top scorer in Champions League history during a match against Ajax in Amsterdam. He’s tied the previous record of 71 set by Spanish footballer, Raúl. But how does Messi compare with the other top scorers?

It has taken the Argentinian player 90 appearances to reach 71 goals – Raúl took 142 matches to reach the same number. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is just behind the pair with a tally of 70 goals.

That gives Messi a terrifying 0.79 goals per game, meaning he will probably score in roughly four out of every five Champions League matches – a rate that is considerably higher than both Ronaldo’s (nearly two out of three) and Raúl’s (one out of two).

It would probably frustrate the intensely competitive Ronaldo to hear it but Messi has reached this level of goalscoring much earlier in his career than his two closest competitors.

At 27 years old, he is six years younger than Raúl was when he scored his record-setting goal against Internazionale for FC Schalke in 2011. Ronaldo is currently 29.



Despite this, Messi scored his first Champions League goal in 2005, which was two years before Ronaldo got one for Manchester United. A product of the Barcelona youth academy, the Argentinian was just 18 when he scored against Greek team Panathinaikos.

His next was against Werder Bremen the following season and his third the season after that in a match with Lyon.

This staggered introduction gives him a lopsided trajectory which shows the Argentinian has really got into his stride in recent seasons – a decent indication that Raúl’s part in the record will not stand for much longer.



Although this does come with a caveat for those defending Raúl. The Champions League has changed massively in format in the years in which these players have reached their prime so it is not quite a like-for-like comparison.

For Raúl’s first few seasons in the competition, just 24 of the elite teams in Europe were involved in the group stage while it is now 32. Football clubs have also taken on a more attacking mentality in recent years, which may be the reason behind the upward trend in the number of goals scored per game in the competition.

2014-15 so far





Nevertheless, this is another amazing record for Lionel Messi, who is not only now impossible but also the benchmark for all forwards in the European league system.

Which clubs have the top three Champions League goalscorers put the most past?