Robert Lewandowski's stats compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as he scores 100th Champions League goal

Barcelona superstar Robert Lewandowski has scored his 100th goal in the Champions League, matching the milestone set by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The Champions League returned on Tuesday night as several of the top clubs in Europe competed to claim a much-needed three points in the brand new format.

Looking to make it four successive wins in the competition, La Liga giants Barcelona faced off against high-flying French club Brest in a top of the table clash.

And early in the match Lewandowski put his side ahead after reaching a century of goals of the Champions League, making him only the third player to reach the impressive milestone.

In his 125th appearance in the top European competition, the Polish striker won a penalty early in the game after being fouled by Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot in the box.

Lewandowski then cooly stepped up to take the penalty kick himself and slotted it past the Dutch goalkeeper to put the Spanish side 1-0 up.

Only Ronaldo and Messi have reached 100 goals in the Champions League, displaying just how difficult it is to reach such an impressive goal tally.

Ronaldo became the first player to reach a century of goals in UEFA club competition after netting a brace for Real Madrid in their match against Bayern Munich in April 2017, eleven years and eight months after his first Champions League goal.

In total, it took Ronaldo 144 appearances to reach the 100-goal tally.

Meanwhile, long-term rival Messi did it in 123 games as he became the second player to reach the milestone after scoring two for Barcelona in their March 2018 match against Chelsea.

Lionel Messi scored his 100th Champions League goal against Chelsea in March 2018, 12 years and 4 months after his first goal in the competition. (Image: Getty)

In total, the Argentine has scored 129 goals in 163 Champions League appearances, while Ronaldo has found the back of the net 140 times in 183 appearances.

Former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema came within touching distance of reaching the milestone after scoring 90 goals in 152 Champions League appearances for the La Liga side and Lyon between 2005 and 2023.

However, the Frenchman is now unlikely to score the final 10 goals needed to reach 100 in the competition after securing a move outside of Europe to join Saudi Pro League club Al Ittihad in July 2023.