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What's the story?
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is on his way to break a UEFA Champions League record held by his longstanding rival Lionel Messi and has equaled a great European milestone previously achieved by only four players.
In case you didn't know...
Barcelona's Messi had recently overtaken Ronaldo in the number of goals scored in the UEFA Champions League's group stage.
The record was previously shared by the two aces, with 60 goals each in the competition's group games.
However, the Barcelona star surpassed the shared record during Barcelona's 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in September.
The record-breaking goals came in the form of a hat-trick, taking the Argentine's Champions League group stage goal tally to 63.
The Argentine forward currently has 65 Champions League group stage goals following a host of games, and the numbers are set to go higher as the games continue.
The heart of the matter
It looks like Messi may not hold on to the record for very long as his Portuguese counterpart Ronaldo is keeping him on his toes.
Ronaldo's Juventus went head-to-head with his former club Manchester United at Turin in a UCL game that saw the hosts succumb to a shocking defeat.
Despite the loss, the former Manchester United star managed to score a goal that was initially deemed to be the winner of the game.
With the goal, the Portuguese ace has taken his Champions League group stage goal tally to 61, only four less from Messi's 65, according to UEFA's official website.
According to statistics company Gracenote, the 33-year-old forward has also equalled a big European record by becoming only the fifth player in history to have scored in Europe's elite club competition for a team from England, Spain and Italy.
The milestone was previously only achieved by four players - Samuel Eto'o, Alvaro Morata, Fernando Llorente and Julio Baptista.
What's next?
Considering Messi's injury, it is highly possible for Ronaldo to surpass the record for the most Champions League goals in a group stage.
However, given the constant records tug-of-war between the two aces, one can never tell.
