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Messi surpassed the record of 71 goals he jointly held with former Real Madrid and Schalke 04 striker Raul when he put Barcelona 2-0 ahead.
Lionel Messi set a new Champions League scoring record with a hat-trick and Luis Suarez netted his first in Barcelona colours as the Spaniards comprehensively beat APOEL Nicosia 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Suarez opened the scoring and his Barca account in the 27th minute, before Messi surpassed the record of 71 goals he jointly held with former Real Madrid and Schalke 04 striker Raul when he put Barcelona 2-0 ahead.
The Argentine doubled his account to make it 3-0 in the 58th minute and netted his 74th Champions League goal to complete the rout with three minutes left after Rafinha was sent off for Barcelona and APOEL's Joao Guilherme also saw red.
Barcelona stay second in Group F with 12 points, a point behind leaders Paris St Germain who they face in their final match.
APOEL are bottom of the group with one point, a point behind Ajax Amsterdam.
Chelsea produced a footballing masterclass to romp to a 5-0 win at Schalke 04 on Tuesday to power into the last 16 of the Champions League and make it a miserable night for former coach Roberto Di Matteo.
Captain John Terry headed in a corner after 78 seconds and Brazil midfielder Willian doubled the lead with a fierce low shot on the half hour.
A Jan Kirchhoff own goal in the 44th minute made it 3-0 and second-half goals from substitutes Didier Drogba and Ramires allowed Chelsea to extend their unbeaten start to the season to 19 games in all competitions.
The other English club, Manchester City kept their hopes alive of reaching the knockouts after Sergio Aguero struck a hat-trick, including two late goals, in a 3-2 victory against 10-man Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Aguero raced through to slot past Manuel Neuer in the 85th and 91st minutes to snatch a stunning win, the Argentine having given City a 21st minute lead with a penalty after Bayern's Mehdi Benatia was shown a red card for bringing him down.
Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski had struck within five minutes of each other shortly before halftime to put the visitors in front at the break.
City are level on five points with CSKA Moscow and AS Roma, who earlier drew 1-1, and know if they win in Rome and the Russians fail to beat Bayern in the final round of Group E matches they will qualify for the last 16.