Record-breaker Messi nets treble as Barca down APOEL
ByReuters
Published 25/11/2014 at 22:07 GMT
By Peter Stevenson Lionel Messi set a new Champions League scoring record with a hat-trick and Luis Suarez netted his first in Barcelona colours as the Spaniards comprehensively beat APOEL Nicosia 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Suarez opened the scoring and his Barca account in the 27th minute after his clever turn beat Joao Guilherme on the left-hand edge of the penalty area.
Messi surpassed the record of 71 goals he jointly held with former Real Madrid and Schalke 04 striker Raul when he put Barcelona 2-0 ahead, redirecting a Rafinha shot into the APOEL goal.
The Argentine doubled his account to make it 3-0 in the 58th minute after a superb throughball from Dani Alves, before Rafinha was sent off for a second yellow card.
APOEL's Guilherme also saw red five minutes before fulltime and Messi rounded off the scoring with his 74th Champions League goal when he slotted home easily from Pedro's cutback after the Spaniard had evaded the offside trap.
Barcelona stay second in Group F with 12 points, a point behind leaders Paris St Germain who they face in their final match.
APOEL are bottom of the group with one point, a point behind Ajax Amsterdam.
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