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Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the finest players ever to have graced the UEFA Champions League.
During a stellar near two-decade-long club career, the diminutive Argentinian has been a standout performer for Barcelona, whom he planned to leave at the end of last season before deciding to remain at the club till next summer.
Nevertheless, Lionel Messi has scored goals and achieved laurels galore, especially in the blue riband event of European club football.
He is one of only two players in the history of the Champions League to score over 100 goals for a single club; however, his tally of 116 goals in the competition (all scored for Barcelona) is the most netted by a player in the Champions League for one club.
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Five Champions League records Lionel Messi could break in 2020-21
The Argentina captain commenced his 17th season in the Champions League by becoming the first player to score in 16 consecutive seasons in the competition, in the process also scoring against a record-extending 36th different Champions League opponent.
On that note, let us have a look at five other records the Lionel Messi could break in the latest edition of the Champions League.
#1 Score 70 group-stage goals
Lionel Messi's goals may have dried up in recent times, but the player remains a force to be reckoned with, especially in the Champions League.
By scoring against Ferencvaros in Barcelona's 2020-21 opener on Matchday 1, Lionel Messi equalled Ryan Giggs' record as the only players to score in 16 different seasons in the competition. However, unlike the legendary Welshman, Messi has done so in as many consecutive seasons.
In the process, Lionel Messi extended his record tally of goals scored in the group stage of the Champions League to 69, which is already six clear of the next-best player Cristiano Ronaldo.
If the Barcelona captain finds the back of the net once more before the knockout rounds this season, which he is likely to, he will become the first player in Champions League history to score 70 goals in the group stage of the competition.
#2 Score a ninth hat-trick
Among his bevvy of scoring records in the Champions League, Lionel Messi is the first player to score eight hat-tricks in the competition, a mark later emulated only by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentinian, who is one of two players to have scored five goals in a Champions League game, could assume outright ownership of the record if he manages another hat-trick in the ongoing edition of the competition.
However, it must be noted that it has been more than two years since Messi scored his eighth and latest Champions League hat-trick. It came in a group-stage game against PSV Eindhoven in the 2018-19 edition of the competition.
#3 Score 50 knockout-stage goals
During his stellar career in club football, especially in the Champions League, Lionel Messi has scored 47 goals in the knockout stages of the competition. It is a tally that is surpassed by only one other player - Cristiano Ronaldo (67).
This season, Lionel Messi extended his own record by scoring against a record-extending 36th team in the Champions League.
If he scores thrice more in the knockout stages of the 2020-21 Champions League, he will become the first player after Cristiano Ronaldo to reach the landmark of 50 goals in that stage of the competition.
However, considering his meagre return of just two goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League last season, it is far from a foregone conclusion that Messi could arrive at the landmark this campaign.
Nevertheless, barring an injury or suspension, the 33-year-old is unlikely to repeat his paltry return in 2020-21 as well.
#4 Become the fourth player to appear in 150 Champions League games
With 144 appearances in the Champions League tournament proper (group stage to final), Lionel Messi is the fifth-most capped player, second active, in the history of the competition.
If the Barcelona captain racks up six more appearances in the 2020-21 Champions League, he will join an exclusive club of only four players to play 150 games in the competition.
Only Iker Casillas (177), Cristiano Ronaldo (170) and Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez (151) have appeared in more Champions League games than Lionel Messi.
#5 Become the second player to win a fifth UEFA Champions League title
Lionel Messi won his fourth and latest Champions League title in the 2014-15 edition of the competition, when Barcelona became the first club to win multiple continental trebles.
In the five years since then, Lionel Messi and the Blaugrana have struggled to replicate those highs.
They have stumbled at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League on four occasions, with one of them being a 2-8 hiding against eventual champions Bayern Munich last season.
Barcelona are very unlikely to make a run to the final of the Champions League this season, let alone win the entire competition.
However, if the Catalan club do manage to achieve the feat, Lionel Messi will join Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to win five titles in the competition since it was rebranded and took its current name in 1992.
