The ‘who’s better’ debate will rumble on well after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have hung up their boots, and their record-breaking goal scoring in the Champions League has added further fuel to an already raging debate.
First off, only two players have ever made it into the Champions League 100 club, and there’s no surprise it’s these guys – the question is, who got there first?
Let’s start with Messi. He began his Champions League goal scoring back in 2005 against Panathinaikos, capitalising on some disastrous defending. Years of consistent goals followed including a rare header from the 5’7” Argentine against Manchester United in the 2009 final. He notched his first Champions League hat-trick against Arsenal at the Nou Camp in 2010, where he scored four in a 4-1 win.
The forward returned to haunt Manchester United again in the 2011 final at Wembley when he struck his 37th Champions League goal. Later in the calendar year Messi scored his second European hat-trick against minnows Viktoria Plzen. The following season saw Messi grab his third hat-trick against Leverkusen in 2012. Messi walked off with his fifth Champions League match ball in 2014 after tearing apart APOEL in a 0-4 win.
He continued his incredible goal scoring in 2016 when he notched his ninth goal in the competition against Arsenal, thus setting the record for most goals scored by a player against a single club. In the same year he got his sixth Champions League hat-trick against Celtic. Manchester City couldn’t stop the little magician scoring for fun as he bagged his seventh treble in a Champions League game.
He finally reached the 100-goal landmark in March 2018 with a brace against Chelsea. In total, it took the Barcelona talisman just 123 games to reach the feat.
How does that compare to Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ronaldo’s first European goal came for Manchester United against Debreceni in 2005. He scored ten more goals in the competition before planting a header against Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final, which saw Manchester United win the competition on penalties.
The Portugal captain finally netted himself a Champions League hat-trick in 2012 as his Real Madrid side saw of Ajax 4-1 in 2012. A year later he scored his 50th European goal against Turkish side Galatasaray, and then netted his second CL hat-trick against them later on in the year.
Real Madrid won the competition in 2014 with help from Ronaldo’s spot kick against rivals Atletico Madrid and in 2015 he scored his third European hat-trick with a reactive header against Shakhtar. In the same season Malmo fell victim of his non-stop goal scoring as he netted yet another Champions League treble, the fourth of his career. He also set the record for the most goals scored in a Champions League group stage with 11 goals. A stunning free-kick capped his sixth Champions League hat trick against Wolfsburg in 2016.
He finally reached the 100 club in 2017 against Bayern Munich.
So, having made it to 100 European club goals on 18 October 2017 against Olympiacos, Messi (who also has three UEFA Super Cup strikes) became the second man to achieve a century in the senior UEFA competition after Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid forward was also the first to get 100 for a single club with his opening strike versus Paris Saint-Germain on 14 February 2018.
However, Ronaldo needed 144 games to register his 100 UEFA Champions League goals, Messi just 123.
So Ronaldo was first, but Messi was quicker. Who’s better? The debate goes on.
Octo Finissimo Automatic A Third World Record for Bulgari
Bulgari is once again the spotlight, proudly presenting its third successive world record.
The Octo Finissimo Automatic is the slimmest ultra-thin self-winding watch on the market to date.
After introducing its Tourbillon in 2014 and the Minute Repeater in 2016, the Maison unveils its new creation featuring a total thickness of just 5.15mm, while its self-winding movement is just 2.23mm thick for a 40mm diameter.
The iconic Octo is once again pushing the boundaries of watchmaking feasibility.
