Former Barcelona legend Gary Linekar was full of praise on the talismanic duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Over the last two decades, these two superstars of football have chased each other records in a cat-and-mouse race.

Both of them have pushed each other to the limits and have played a key role in getting the best out of the other. Lionel Messi on Sunday went past Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of scoring the most non-penalty goals.

With his fifth-minute strike, Messi surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo’s total of 671 non-penalty goals and made it four wins from as many Ligue 1 games for PSG Saint-Germain. Interestingly, Messi has played 150 matches less than Ronaldo, which is an extraordinary achievement.

Lineker tweeted: “With 672 non-penalty goals Messi sneaks ahead of Ronaldo having played 150 games fewer. The numbers these two post are nuts.”

Meanwhile, the Argentine has been in stellar form in the ongoing season for the Parisians. The talisman has scored six goals in 11 appearances across all competitions for the French Club.

Messi could not hit the ground running in the previous season for PSG Saint-Germain as he managed only 11 goals and provided 15 assists for the club.

On the other hand, it has been a slow start to the season for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United. The Portuguese scored his maiden goal of the season against Sheriff in the Europa League group stage match via a penalty.

Recently, Messi scored against Turkey’s club Maccabi Haifa to help his team win by 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League. This goal of the Argentine was against the 39th different team in Europe’s elite football competition, which made him move ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored against 38 different clubs in the Champions League.