Lionel Messi was at his brilliant best in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League match against Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday evening.
The Argentine forward was named Man-of-the-Match as PSG won 7-2 at Parc des Princes.
Messi bagged a brace on the evening. He opened the scoring in the 19th minute before scoring his second just before half-time.
The 35-year-old also recorded two assists as he set up Neymar and Carlos Soler’s goals.
Messi has now recorded a combined 48 goal contributions (35 goals, 13 assists) in Europe’s premier cup competition over the past five years.
But how does that compare to the world’s best players?
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The Pop Foot have listed the 20 players with the most goals and assists in the Champions League over the past five years.
Messi is joined in the top 20 by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema.
Their list was published before Wednesday evening’s games so we have updated it where necessary.
Who has the most Champions League goals & assists in the past five years?
— PopFoot (@ThePopFoot) October 26, 2022
20. Gabriel Jesus – 23 (19 goals, four assists)
19. Timo Werner – 23 (17 goals, six assists)
18. Harry Kane – 23 (19 goals, four assists)
17. Angel Di Maria – 25 (seven goals, 18 assists)
16. Edin Dzeko – 26 (17 goals, nine assists)
15. Riyad Mahrez – 27 goals (14 goals, 13 assists)
14. Kevin De Bruyne – 27 goals (eight goals, 19 assists)
13. Thomas Muller – 29 (14 goals, 15 assists)
12. Raheem Sterling – 31 (20 goals, 11 assists)
11. Erling Haaland – 31 (28 goals, three assists)
10. Leroy Sane – 33 (17 goals, 16 assists)
9. Sadio Mane – 35 (27 goals, eight assists)
8. Roberto Firmino – 37 (23 goals, 14 assists)
7. Neymar – 37 (22 goals, 15 assists)
6. Karim Benzema – 42 (35 goals, seven assists)
5. Cristiano Ronaldo – 42 (35 goals, seven assists)
4. Lionel Messi – 48 (35 goals, 13 assists)
3. Kylian Mbappe – 54 (33 goals, 21 assists)
2. Mohamed Salah – 54 (41 goals, 13 assists)
1. Robert Lewandowski – 60 (51 goals, nine assists)
Messi only fourth in 20 players with most Champions League goal contributions in past five years
Despite Messi’s brilliance on Tuesday, he only find himself fourth.
He is six goal contributions behind PSG teammate Mbappe and Liverpool’s Salah, while he is 12 behind Lewandowski.
The Polish striker will only have one more chance to add to his tally this season, though, after Barcelona’s exit from the competition was confirmed on Wednesday.
Ronaldo finds himself in the top five despite not playing in the competition this season. His 42 goal contributions is matched by Benzema.
Read more: Champions League 2022/23: Fixtures, Draw, Dates, Schedule, Final, Teams and Everything We Know So Far
Neymar, Firmino and Bayern duo Mane and Sane make up the rest of the top 10.
Haaland finds himself 11th and will almost certainly break into the top 10 in the next few months.
While Werner sneaks into the top 20 after scoring in RB Leipzig’s shock 3-2 win over Real Madrid on Tuesday.
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