Lionel Messi closed the gap on perennial rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time Champions League goalscoring charts with his strike for Paris Saint-Germain against Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday night.

The Argentine maestro levelled things up for his side after they surprisingly fell behind in Israel, and in doing so scored against a 39th different team in the competition - a record he now holds outright ahead of Ronaldo.


The goal was Messi's 126th in the Champions League, leaving him only 14 behind Ronaldo in the all-time list and with the chance to close that gap further this season due to Ronaldo not being involved in the competition.

Neymar was also on the scoresheet for PSG, with his 42nd Champions League strike taking him level with Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero.

Here, we round up the latest standings in the Champions League 40-goal club following this week's action.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)

Goals: 140
Appearances: 183
Ratio: 0.77

2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 126
Appearances: 158
Ratio: 0.80

3. Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona)

Goals: 89
Appearances: 108
Ratio: 0.82

4. Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)

Goals: 86
Appearances: 143
Ratio: 0.6

5. Raul (Real Madrid, Schalke 04)

Goals: 71
Appearances: 142
Ratio: 0.50

6. Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)

Goals: 56
Appearances: 73
Ratio: 0.77

7. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Goals: 52
Appearances: 136
Ratio: 0.38

8. Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)

Goals: 50
Appearances: 112
Ratio: 0.45

9. Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

Goals: 49
Appearances: 58
Ratio: 0.84

10. Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan, Chelsea)

Goals: 48
Appearances: 100
Ratio: 0.48

11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 48
Appearances: 124
Ratio: 0.39

12. Eusebio (Benfica)

Goals: 46
Appearances: 65
Ratio: 0.71

13. Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus, AC Milan)

Goals: 46
Appearances: 81
Ratio: 0.57

14. Didier Drogba (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)

Goals: 44
Appearances: 92
Ratio: 0.48

15. Neymar (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 42
Appearances: 77
Ratio: 0.55

16. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

Goals: 42
Appearances: 89
Ratio: 0.47

17. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Manchester City)

Goals: 41
Appearances: 79
Ratio: 0.52

Source: https://matrixliveng.com/champions-league-40-goal-club-lionel-messi-edges-closer-to-cristiano-ronaldo-record/