LONDON: Lionel Messi will chase yet another record when the Champions League returns on Tuesday from a three-week break.

The Argentine is poised to take sole possession of the competition’s all-time scoring record just three days after he rewrote La Liga’s record books.

Messi’s brace in Barcelona’s 2-0 win at Ajax on Nov 5 pulled him level with Raul Gonzalez on 71 goals as the joint-top scorers for the Champions League.

Messi now hopes to leave Raul behind when Barcelona visit Cypriot side APOEL in Group ‘F’ on Tuesday.

Breaking major records is what Messi does for a living. He will arrive in Cyprus fresh from his historic hat-trick on Saturday in Barcelona’s 5-1 defeat of Sevilla that left him with 253 Spanish league goals — two more than Telmo Zarra’s milestone of 251 goals in La Liga which had stood untouched since 1955.

Barcelona are already assured of their place in the last 16 while Paris St Germain, also through to the knockout stages, face Ajax in the group’s other game.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Manchester City welcome Bayern Munich needing a win to stay in contention for a last-16 place.

In Germany, Chelsea go to Schalke 04, managed by Roberto Di Matteo who was in charge of Chelsea when they won the Champions League in 2012.

Big-spending English champions City who are bottom of Group ‘E’ with two points from four games but will remain in contention if they beat Bayern at home on Tuesday or CSKA Moscow versus AS Roma ends in a draw.

Bayern have already clinched top spot but Roma (4 points), CSKA (4) and City (2), are all tightly bunched.

Roma, who beat CSKA 5-1 in the opening match, will go through if they beat the Russians again and City lose at home to Bayern, as they did in the group phase last year when the Munich side beat them 3-1 in Manchester.

City lost 1-0 to Bayern in the first meeting between the two sides and go into the match without the suspended Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, both of whom were sent off during the 2-1 defeat by CSKA in the last round.

“We are really lucky to still be in with a chance of qualifying because, with two points and two games left, normally you are out,” City midfielder Samir Nasri said. “Now is our chance. We have to take it and play with nothing to lose.”

The fourth meeting between Schalke and Chelsea in little over a year could prove incredibly enjoyable for the German side’s new coach Di Matteo.

He led Chelsea to Champions League glory when they won the title in 2012 but was sacked six months later.

Chelsea top Group ‘G’ with eight points, three points clear of Schalke, and while the Londoners are virtually certain to qualify, Di Matteo’s side can make them wait until the last match and boost their chances with a win to lead the table.

Slovenian champions Maribor have been the surprise of the pool having lost once in four outings and drawing three as they travel to Lisbon and a make-or-break fixture against Sporting.

A victory in the Portuguese capital, combined with a Chelsea win over Schalke, would mean the outsiders could reach the knockout phase for the first time with a result in their final match at home to Schalke.

Sporting are just one point behind Schalke and in control of their own destiny if they can win their final two matches.

While Messi chases one record, Luiz Adriano is chasing another scoring record in the Champions League.

The Shakhtar Donetsk forward has already scored nine goals through the first four matches to equal Cristaino Ronaldo’s record in the group phase in a single season and can top the Ballon d’Or winner’s mark with a goal against Athletic Bilbao in Group ‘H’ on Tuesday.

Shakhtar need a single point to secure a place in the knock-out round while BATE Borisov need to beat already qualified Porto in Belarus and hope Athletic do them a favour against Shakhtar if they are to keep their knock-out round hopes alive.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014