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What's the story?
Juventus talisman Cristiano Ronaldo boasts of having several records in the Champions League but he has recently been beaten to one milestone by Barcelona captain Lionel Messi.
The Argentine has a better minutes per goal ratio than the Portuguese, among all players who have scored more than 20 goals in Europe's premier competition.
In case you didn't know...
Despite winning league titles, both Messi and Ronaldo failed to guide their respective clubs to European glory in the recently-concluded campaign.
Juventus crashed out of the Champions League after they suffered a surprising defeat to Dutch titans Ajax in the quarter-finals. Ronaldo played a key role in the Old Lady's progression to the stage having netted a spectacular hat-trick against old rivals Atletico Madrid to overturn their two-goal deficit in the Round of 16.
Barcelona, on the other hand, had a far more humiliating exit as they were on the unfortunate end of one of the best comebacks in European football history. The Catalan giants had a three-goal lead going into the second leg of their semi-final clash against Liverpool but squandered it to lose 4-0 at Anfield.
Liverpool went on to be crowned European champions after defeating fellow Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur in the finals at Madrid.
The heart of the matter
A recent Opta statistic has revealed that Messi has a better minutes per goal ratio than Ronaldo despite the Portuguese forward being the all-time top scorer in the competition.
The Barcelona captain, who sits at the top of the list, is followed by former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and former Bayern Munich forward Mario Gomez.
What's next?
While Ronaldo recently led Portugal to the inaugural UEFA Nations League title, Messi guided Argentina to third place in a Copa America edition that saw him make bold and controversial claims against the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
