Barcelona consolidated its qualification to the knockout phase of this season's UEFA Champions League at the expense of PSV inside the Philips Arena on Wednesday night. It took the genius of Lionel Messi to secure a 2-1 win for the Blaugrana to top its tough group which features Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur.
Following an action-packed first-half, the little Argentine broke the deadlock with a near-post finish after working his way into the PSV penalty box despite having limited space. The 31-year-old forward, as a result, entered the history books of the UEFA Champions League with his 106th goal for Barcelona.
He became the first player in the competition's history with the most goals for a single club. Furthermore, Lionel Messi has now scored more goals for Barcelona than the total number scored by the next five players who follow him on the charts.
15 - Lionel Messi has scored 15+ goals for @FCBarcelona in each of the last 13 seasons in all competitions. Consistency. pic.twitter.com/ZmKrGg4LvX
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 28, 2018
Similarly, Barcelona entered the European tournament's record books after Gerard Pique secured the win by getting on the end of a Lionel Messi free-kick. De Jong's 83rd-minute effort was not enough to prevent Barcelona from becoming the first club in the history of the Champions League to top their group on 20 different occasions.
The Catalans have failed to achieve the feat on only three occasions.
