Champions League 2018/19: Messi, Ronaldo And 3 Broken Records In Matchday 1
The 2018/19 Champions League season arrived with excitement amidst record-breaking moments as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continued to create UEFA Champions league records like never before.
UEFA Champions League is Europe’s elite competition for a reason - it brings together the best teams from all over the continent to fight for the biggest trophy in Europe.
matchday 1 proved beyond doubts why the UEFA Champions League continue to gain influence as football lovers all around the world incredible footballing moments.
Matchday 1 fixtures like the Liverpool vs Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City vs Lyon, Valencia vs Juventus, Real Madrid vs Roma and Monaco vs Atletico Madrid games gave millions of football fans goosebumps in the entire ninety minutes duration.
The matchday one fixtures were full interesting moments as Champions League records were broken while new ones were created.
- Lionel Messi Hat-Trick
The 5-time Balon d’Or Winner continued his super form in the Champions League as he single-handedly won Barcelona’s first game with a masterpiece performance.
Messi scored the first hat-trick of the new Champions League season, recording his eight hat-tricks in the competition. A feat that makes him the highest ever hat-trick scorer in Champions League history.
The Barcelona captain has now scored 103 UEFA Champions League goal since his debut goal against Panathinaikos in 2005.
Coach Valverde in his post-match conference, heaped praise on Lionel Messi, saying he makes extraordinary things look easier.
"He does extraordinary things and makes them seem routine," he explained.
"Today it was three goals, and he unlocked the match with his freekick."
"The strike was masterful and he simply doesn't tire of scoring hat-tricks."
"I'm satisfied with the 4-0, it's a normal result [when you look at how the match progressed]," he intimated.
"They played well on the counter-attack and we knew it would be difficult to get the first goal.
"After the second goal we were calmer and found things easier, it's always difficult to open teams up at first."
Barca's 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night means Messi is on course to battle his closest rival, Ronaldo for another 10+ Champions League goals this season.