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#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.
