Cristiano Ronaldo equals Lionel Messi's Champions League record with latest Man Utd goal

Cristiano Ronaldo equals Lionel Messi's Champions League record with latest Man Utd goal image

Cristiano Ronaldo equalled all-time Champions League records held by Iker Casillas and Lionel Messi during Manchester United's game against Young Boys.

Ronaldo made his first appearance for Man Utd in the competition since 2009 on Tuesday as he started in the club's group-stage opener.

And in his joint-record 177th appearance in the competition, he marked the event in typical fashion with an early goal to match another milestone held by Messi.

Ronaldo's records

With his start against Young Boys, Ronaldo matched Casillas with a record 177 appearances in the competition.

It took the Portugal star just 13 minutes to open the scoring in Switzerland to put United 1-0 ahead, sealing in the process a share of another record.

Young Boys became the 36th different club he's scored a Champions League goal against, with only Messi matching that mark.

Of course, those are far from the only records that Ronaldo has earned in the Champions League.

He's the competition's all-time top goalscorer with 135 finishes, including 17 in 2013-14, the most in a single campaign.

Ronaldo also has more knockout-round goals than any other player with a total of 67 outside of the group stage.

In addition, the Portuguese star is the only player to score in three Champions League finals, the only player to score in all six games in a Champions League group and the only player to score in 11 straight Champions League games.

Restarting life at Man Utd

Ronaldo made his second debut for the club this past weekend as he returned to Old Trafford 12 years after leaving for Real Madrid.

He scored twice in that match, helping lead Man Utd to a 4-1 win over Newcastle.

The Portugal star's latest goal failed to provide a result however with a ten-man Red Devils losing 2-1 against Young Boys after conceding in the final minute.