Soccer superstar Lionel Messi has just broken the Champions League goal-scoring record with his 72nd career goal during Barcelona's Group F game against APOEL on Tuesday. He went on to cap his achievement with a hat trick later in the game.

Coming into the game, he was tied with Real Madrid legend Raul with 71. However, he went on to surpass Raul's record after diverting Rafinha's goal-bound shot in the 38th minute with a quick touch.

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He added his 73th and 74th career competition goals later in the second half as he helped Barcelona roll to a 4-0 win.

In just 90 games, the 27-year-old Messi has matched and surpassed the record, while Raul had needed to play in 142 Champions League games for Madrid and Schalke between 1995 and 2001 in order to gain his spot.

While Messi is in the lead right now, he may not stay there for long, as some of his peers are on their way as well.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is also in the race for the top spot that Messi now holds. The 29-year-old has scored 70 Champions League goals in 106 appearances.

If everything goes as planned for Ronaldo, the Portuguese could very well surpass Messi's tally with the game against Basel on Wednesday.

This is only the second achievement that Messi has reached recently.

Last Saturday, Messi broke Telmo Zarra's La Liga record of 251 goals with a hat trick against Sevilla.

Pep Guardiola, Coach of Bayern Munich, said that Messi's record - now at 253 goals - will not endure for 60 years, but 600.

While Messi has been breaking all sorts of records, reports say that he is unhappy, as he is tired of being singled out for attention by Spain's tax authorities.

Former Barca forward Johan Cruyff believes Messi's apparent unhappiness is cause by some internal issues.

"What I can imagine is that Messi is pretty annoyed with the tax things, because it is something joint with the club, and he is being investigated every three or four years," Cruyff said.

TagsChampions League Goal-scoring Record