Crisitano Ronaldo Still Ahead Of Lionel Messi Despite Argentinian Breaking His All-Time Hat-Trick Records

Lionel Messi has broken Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time club hat-trick records but apparently still behind the Portuguese star.

Messi’s campaign has been completely the opposite of the usual “Leo.” He even recorded his worst season in over 6 years after not being able to hit the back of the net in four consecutive games. However, Messi returned to goalscoring form with a bang on Saturday in front of the Camp Nou crowd and registered a spectacular first-half hat-trick against Eibar.

Looking back at how the Barcelona captain announced his epic return, the Eibar defence initially held firm against Barcelona’s attacking onslaught in a lively opening 10, but it wasn’t long before a typical moment of Messi magic secured the breakthrough. With 14 minutes on the clock, the forward executed a perfectly-timed nutmeg and danced his way through a crowd to set himself one-on-one, before dinking the ball into the far corner.

Twenty minutes later, Messi then secured his second by using his blistering pace to evade several defenders before slotting another past Dmitrovic to finish the goal. Not surprising at all, the Argentine tied up the hat-trick just two minutes later, finding himself in a prime spot to score from close range and propel Barca back towards the top of La Liga.

The 32-year-old forward even added a fourth late on, with a chance created by none other than Martin Braithwaite on his Barcelona debut

Messi’s latest hat-trick is the 48th of his stellar club-career. The feat sees him surpass his long-time rival Ronaldo who has a career hat-trick total of 47.

What is even more impressive about Messi’s hat-trick was that it also gave him some distance from Ronaldo towards the top of the La Liga all-time hat-trick charts. He now has 36 in Spain’s top division, two more than his Portuguese rival managed (34).

Many believe that the said feat adds a bit more fuel to the already-raging debate around the eternal soccer rivals. However, though Messi was able to surpass Ronaldo in the club hat-trick standings, he is still just behind “CR7” in career hat-tricks across all competitions – 54 to 56, Give Me Sport reported.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo also made a major career landmark after making his 1,000th appearance for club and country, starting for Juventus against SPAL in Serie A on Saturday.

The Portugal superstar returned to Maurizio Sarri's starting XI after he was rested for the Bianconeri's 2-0 victory over Brescia last weekend. He celebrated his historic milestone with the opening goal at Stadio Paolo Mazza, finding the net in his 11th consecutive Serie A game.