Barcelona superstar Robert Lewandowski has scored his 100th Champions League goal, equaling the milestone set by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The Champions League returned on Tuesday night as many of Europe’s top clubs competed to secure the required three points in a brand new format.
Seeking to make it four consecutive wins in the competition, La Liga giants Barcelona face off against high-flying French club Brest in a top-of-the-table clash.
And early in the match Lewandowski put his team ahead after reaching a century of Champions League goals, becoming only the third player to reach the impressive milestone.
In his 125th appearance in top European competition, the Polish striker won a penalty early in the game after being fouled by Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot in the box.
After this, Lewandowski calmly took the penalty kick himself and passed it past the Dutch goalkeeper to put the Spanish team ahead 1-0.
Only Ronaldo and Messi have reached 100 goals in the Champions League, which shows how difficult it is to reach such an impressive goal tally.
Eleven years and eight months after his first Champions League goal, Ronaldo became the first player to reach a century of goals in UEFA club competition when he scored two goals for Real Madrid in a match against Bayern Munich in April 2017.
Overall, Ronaldo had to play 144 matches to reach the mark of 100 goals.
Meanwhile, long-term rival Messi did so in 123 games as he became the second player to reach the milestone after scoring two for Barcelona in a March 2018 match against Chelsea.
Lionel Messi scored his 100th Champions League goal against Chelsea in March 2018, 12 years and 4 months after his first goal in the competition. (Image: Getty)
Overall, the Argentine has scored 129 goals in 163 Champions League matches, while Ronaldo has scored 140 times in 183 matches.
Former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema came close to reaching the milestone after scoring 90 goals in 152 Champions League matches for the La Liga side and Lyon between 2005 and 2023.
However, the Frenchman is unlikely to score the final 10 goals required to reach 100 in the competition after leaving Europe to join Saudi Pro League club Al Ittihad in July 2023.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: barcelona, champions league, cristiano ronaldo, lionel messi, robert lewandowski, football