6 Cristiano Ronaldo's Champions League records Lionel Messi can break

The UEFA Champions League is back. The biggest game of the day is set to take place at the Parc des Princes when the champions of France and Germany lock horns on Tuesday.

It's Paris Saint-Germain versus Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last-16 encounter.

Christophe Galtier has welcomed the news that Kylian Mbappe will likely make the squad to face the Bavarians in France.

Lionel Messi, who also missed the defeat to Monaco with a hamstring problem, will be fit to start the game against Julian Nagelsmann's side. It is also a chance for the Argentine genius to make up ground on his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Man United star hits two of Cristiano Ronaldo's celebration after scoring vs Leeds United

Football

With Ronaldo moving from Europe to the Middle East, Messi has the opportunity to claw his way towards some of Ronaldo's feats and topple some of his most impressive records in the UEFA Champions League.

Here, Sports Brief takes a look at Ronaldo's Champions League records in Messi's sights.

Most Assists

Perhaps, this is the first record in Lionel Messi's sights. He has provided four assists in the 2022/23 Champions League season so far. He notched two of them in Paris Saint-Germain's 7-2 thrashing of Israeli side Maccabi Haifa. He also laid on one assist in their final group match against Juventus.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is now within only two assists of Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 42.

Messi's compatriot, Angel Di Maria, is on 38, having notched three assists in the group stages. He can also catch up with the veterans.

Most Goals

Ronaldo, once again, is on top of the Champions League all-time goals chart with 141. There was a time Messi was ahead of his great rival, but the Barcelona legend finds himself 12 goals behind.

Notwithstanding, Ronaldo's record does not seem out of reach. In the current Champions League, Messi has registered four goals to his name. He bagged a brace against Maccabi Haifa at home and was also on the scoresheet in their away games against the same opponent and Benfica.

Most appearances

According to UEFA's official numbers, Cristiano Ronaldo has made 187 appearances in the biggest club competition. The Portugal icon is six ahead of Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas, who played 181 games in the competition.

Lionel Messi comes third on 161. If Paris Saint-Germain are able to progress to the final, with the Argentina phenomenon featuring in each of their knockout games, that would take him up to 168.

35-year-old Messi would then close the gap on Ronaldo and will take him within touching distance to catch the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Most top scorer award

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Champions League top scorer award for a record seventh time. Messi, meanwhile, has achieved the gong six times.

The PSG forward has notched four goals in this season's completion, having scored all goals against Maccabi Haifa and Benfica.

But he's behind his club teammate Kylian Mbappe and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah who have both netted seven goals.

Three players; Mehdi Taremi, Erling Haaland and the already eliminated Robert Lewandowski have scored five goals and are ahead of the Argentina captain.

Most finals scored in

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in three of the four finals he has played in the UEFA Champions League.

He scored one for Manchester United in the 2008 final against Chelsea, netted for Real Madrid in their 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in 2014 and scored a brace for Los Blancos in 2017 against Juventus.

Lionel Messi, on the other hand, has scored in two finals for Barcelona in the 2009 and 2011 finals. He is one behind Ronaldo.

Most penalties scored

Compared to Ronaldo, Messi has a poor penalty conversion rate, with his stat currently below 80 per cent. He missed from the spot against Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 last season. He also failed to convert for Argentina at the World Cup against Poland.

He has netted 18 Champions League penalties to go along with his five misses in the competition. And, that is just one penalty goal shy of Ronaldo's record.

Messi resumes training

The World Cup winner, who missed PSG's 3-1 defeat at the hands of Monaco over the weekend has also returned to training, Sports Brief earlier reported.

He will be expected to complement the efforts of Neymar, who is still yet to rediscover his pre-World Cup form after Brazil's quarter-final exit in Qatar.