(CNN) -- Another day, another record broken. Lionel Messi must sometimes wonder what all the fuss is about but to those in the outside world who remain permanently entranced by the genius contained within his feet, it was another opportunity to unleash a barrage of superlatives towards a football phenomenon. Just days after breaking the record for the top scorer in Spanish football history, Messi went one further, establishing himself as the leading marksman in the history of the European Champions League. Messi scored a hat-trick for Barcelona in its 4-0 victory against Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus on Wednesday to take his tally to 74 goals in 91 appearances.
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Lionel Messi becomes top scorer in Champions League history
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Barcelona star scores hat-trick against Apoel Nicosia
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Messi broke the previous 71-goal record held by Raul
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Luis Suarez scores first goal for Barcelona
Messi,who began the night level with @placeholder, required 38 minutes to break the record before adding a couple more for good measure later on.