Messi catching up to Cristiano Ronaldo's record

With each passing Champions League fixture, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continue to shatter goal scoring records.

Real Madrid have begun the season at a relatively slow pace, ending a four-game run of draws with the 6-1 demolition away at Real Betis.Meanwhile, apart from the odd blip, Barcelona are in mid-season form and comfortably beat Manchester City 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

In Messi's last nine fixtures, the 29-year-old has a whopping 12 goals and four assists.

Leading goalscorers in Champions League history

1. Cristiano Ronaldo: 95 goals
2. Leo Messi: 89 goals
3. Raúl González: 71 goals
4. Van Nistelrooy: 60 goals
5. Andriy Shevchenko: 59 goals
6. Thierry Henry: 51 goals
7. Filippo Inzaghi: 50 goals
8. Alfredo Di Stéfano: 49 goals
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 49 goals
10. Eusebio: 47 goals

The form of Messi coincided with the clinical nature of Ronaldo mean that the race to 100 goals will be fascinating.

Ronaldo had a substantial lead at the top, but two hat-tricks in the group stages by Messi - against Celtic and then against City - has cut the gap to just six.

Since the arrival of Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009, the statistics with him and Messi have been exceptional.

Since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009

1. Messi: 380 matches, 384 goals and 172 assists
2. Cristiano Ronaldo: 356 matches, 369 goals and 104 assists

The Ballon d'Or will be presented in January and Ronaldo is the favourite to win the trophy after winning both the Champions League and the European Championship.

With Ronaldo now 31, he will be looking to put more breathing room between himself and Messi before he hangs up his boots.