Lionel Messi has lost one of his numerous records to fellow Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe following the 22-year-old’s 30th and 31st goals in the UEFA Champions League.
PSG hit top gear in their final Champions League group game against Club Brugge with goals from Messi and Mbappe making Parc de Princes erupt in rapturous applause for the first time in a while.
Mbappe, 22, opened the scoring in under two minutes to score his 30th Champions League goal and break the record set by his strike partner, Messi, 11 years ago. He added a second to officially kick off a new era and the race to another record: 50 goals under 25 years old.
He also set up Messi’s first goal with some great solo work to get away from an onrushing Club Brugge defender, before squaring to Messi who found the net from almost 25 years out.
Messi achieved the milestone in 2010 when he was 23 years and 131 days old, while Mbappe – only two weeks away from his birthday – achieved it at 22 years and 352 days to give Pochettino’s side a boost for their coming games.
Mauricio Pochettino will appreciate his team’s performance after a week in which they were held to successive Ligue 1 draws by OGC Nice and RC Lens respectively.
Messi extends goalscoring record
Kylian Mbappe tore holes through the walls of the Club Brugge defence in the first seven minutes, and Messi knew he had to get in on the action.
The Argentine forward who had come into the game with only one goal in nine Ligue 1 appearances but a much better Champions League record, where he had four goals in five games, kept knocking but was denied a few times by great blocks and good saves from Simon Mignolet of Club Brugge.
He finally got his goal after going on a typical run following some good work by Mbappe, before curling in with his deadly left foot.
He scored again from the penalty spot after getting tried in the box, eight minutes after Club Brugge midfielder Mats Rits got a consolation goal back
Both Messi’s goals have now moved him ahead of Pele in the men’s career goals list, as they took his tally to 758 in total for club and country. He is now only 43 goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the outright top scorer in men’s football with 801 goals.
Club Brugge was also the 38th team he’s scored against in the competition, level with Cristiano Ronaldo for the most teams scored against. His brace was also his 35th in the competition, which took him to 125 goals in 154 Champions League matches.
