Slavia Prague 1-2 Barcelona: 4 Talking Points as Catalan giants register nervy victory away from home | UEFA Champions League 2019/2020

#1 Lionel Messi into the record books once again

Messi the record-breaker

Lionel Messi's greatness means that eyelids are rarely batted when he sets a new record, with this being the norm rather than the exception almost every other matchday.

Despite only returning to full fitness recently, the Argentine started the game against the Czech side, marking the first time he would come up against Slavia Prague and unexpectedly, he got his name in the record books once more.

Prior to the clash with Slavia, Lionel Messi had come up against 38 different clubs in the Champions League and had failed to score against just six of those, with Atlético Madrid Benfica, Inter Milan, Rubin Kazan, Dortmund, and Udinese amongst the team that have successfully managed to shutout the Barcelona legend.

33 - Slavia Prague have become the 33rd different opponent Lionel Messi has scored a Champions League goal against; joining both Raul and Cristiano Ronaldo as the three players to have scored against the most different sides in the competition. Globetrotters. pic.twitter.com/408ySbAWSM

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 23, 2019

The Czech side, therefore, became the 39th team he faced and it took him less than three minutes to make a mark in the game and set yet another record in football's biggest club competition.

With the goal, it means he has now drawn level with Real Madrid legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul to score against 33 different clubs in the Champions League and the reverse fixture against Inter and Dortmund would afford him the opportunity to have the record all to himself.

15 - Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has become the first player in Champions League history to score at least once in 15 consecutive seasons in the competition. Longevity. pic.twitter.com/mWxv6tLnJZ

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 23, 2019

Furthermore, he set a new record as he became the first player to score in 15 consecutive Champions League seasons, having remarkably scored at least one goal in every UCL campaign since he made his debut in the competition in the 2004.