Lionel Messi gets one over long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo by overtaking him in Champions League hat-trick stakes with treble against PSV
- The battle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in Europe has re-ignited
- Barcelona kicked-off their latest Champions League journey with a 4-0 victory
- Messi scored a hat-trick which saw him overtake Ronaldo in the treble stakes
The Champions League has begun and the battle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in Europe has re-ignited.
Barcelona kicked-off their latest journey in the competition with a resounding 4-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven at the Nou Camp.
Messi scored a hat-trick which saw him overtake long-time rival Ronaldo in the Champions League treble stakes.
The battle between Lionel Messi (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo in Europe has re-ignited
Messi scored his eighth Champions League hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night
The pair were level on seven hat-tricks each before Messi’s eighth treble on Tuesday night.
The Argentinian star notched his first hat-trick in the elite competition eight years ago against Arsenal and he had scored three by the time Ronaldo scored his first treble.
The Juventus forward scored his first Champions League hat-trick in October 2012 for Real Madrid against Ajax.
Argentinian star notched first hat-trick in the elite competition eight years ago against Arsenal
Ronaldo scored first Champions League hat-trick in October 2012 for Real Madrid against Ajax
The duo both scored hat-tricks during the early stages of the competition in 2013 with Messi finding the net three times against Ajax while Ronaldo punished Galatasaray on three occasions.
Messi scored his fifth Champions League treble a year later against APOEL Nicosia before drawing a blank in 2015.
Meanwhile Portuguese star Ronaldo notched his third and fourth trebles in that year against Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo respectively to close the gap on Messi.
Messi scored his fifth Champions League treble in November 2014 against APOEL Nicosia
Portuguese star Ronaldo notched fourth treble in 2015 against Malmo to close gap on Messi
Ronaldo drew level with Messi on five hat-tricks when he scored three against Wolfsburg in April 2016.
But the Barcelona forward kicked-off the 2016-17 Champions League campaign with a hat-trick as the La Liga giants ran out 7-0 winners against Celtic.
He scored his seventh Champions League hat-trick two years ago against Manchester City.
Messi scored his seventh Champions League hat-trick two years ago against Manchester City
Ronaldo scored his seventh hat-trick in the competition in May 2017 against Atletico Madrid
Following Messi’s seventh treble Ronaldo notched two hat-tricks in Europe to draw level again.
He secured his sixth and seventh hat-tricks during the 2016-17 campaign against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid respectively.
Neither player scored a hat-trick in the Champions League last season but now Messi is one hat-trick ahead.
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