Argentine forward Lionel Messi broke two UEFA Champions League records on Wednesday, September 14 to help Paris Saint Germain (PSG) overcome Maccabi Haifa 3-1 in their group stage match.
Messi scored in the 37th minute to ensure the two sides went into the break levelled. Tjaronn Chery had put Maccabi Haifa forward in the 24th minute with a well-taken strike.
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By scoring the goal, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner became the first player in the history of the competition to have netted a goal in 18 different Champions League seasons.
Since making his Champions League debut in 2004, Messi has scored in every season that he has featured in the competition.
Prior to the match, he was level at 17 with French and Real Madrid goal machine Karim Benzema.
The goal also made the former Barcelona point man become the first player ever to have scored a goal against 39 different clubs. Beforehand, he shared the record with Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo on 38.
Apart from getting on the scoresheet, Messi also had a hand in PSG’s second goal. He put Kylian Mbappe through with a defence-splitting pass in the 69th minute.
Mbappe neatly put the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1 in favour of Les Parisiens.
Brazilian forward Neymar Junior scored a late goal in the 88th minute to help the Christophe Galtier-coached side pick up three vital points.