3 things from Wednesday's Champions League action: Messi joins Raul as top all-time scorer

Wednesday's Champions League action was not kind to English clubs. On a day when Lionel Messi made history as Barcelona dropped Ajax, Manchester City produced an underwhelming display that left their European campaign in tatters, while Chelsea could only muster a point against Slovakian side Maribor. Elsewhere, Luiz Adriano continued his ruthless form in front of goal to put Shakhtar on the verge of qualification for the Round of 16.

theScore's Carlo Campo, Gianluca Nesci, and Gord Brunt run down three things from Wednesday's Champions League action:

Lionel Messi scores 71st career Champions League goal to equal Raul's record

Carlo Campo: Raul no longer stands alone as the Champions League's top all-time scorer.

Barcelona's 2-0 away win over Ajax saw Lionel Messi notch his 70th and 71st career goals, equaling the mark set by Raul. It should be noted, however, that it took the Argentine phenom 52 fewer matches to accomplish the feat.

The goal itself was merely a tap-in, but it came in the same way that 59 of his now 71 Champions League goals have come, as he scored using his left foot.

That also wasn't the only record Messi set during the match. His first goal, which marked only the fourth time he's scored with his head in the Champions League, saw him take the podium as the player with the highest goals-per-game ratio in Champions League history.

Not much can be said for Ajax in a match where Messi dominated the headlines. Despite a number of decent opportunities in the first half and an impressive free kick save from Jasper Cillessen, the Dutch side looked less and less threatening as the match wore on and are now eliminated from the competition.

As for Barcelona, the result booked their place in the Round of 16, although they'll surely be looking to top their group when they host Paris Saint-Germain at the Camp Nou on Dec. 10.

Group E marches to the beat of its own drum

Gianluca Nesci: Group E has gone rogue.

Coming into the competition, this collection of teams was going to provide some thrilling football and perhaps give fans a surprise or two. But in the end, powerhouses Bayern Munich and Manchester City would rise above worthy, but ultimately inferior, opponents Roma and CSKA Moscow.

Well, half of that script is coming to fruition.

Bayern Munich took care of business, as expected, defeating Roma at the Allianz Arena with goals from Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze. It wasn't the 7-1 drubbing of last month, but 2-0 gets the job done all the same. While the scoreline was not nearly comparable, there was one similarity between the two matches: Manuel Neuer.

The German goalkeeper is Superman.

Bayern, at every position, are nearly infallible. Ho hum.

Manchester City, on the other hand, have the same number of wins in the Champions League this season as Manchester United. Important note: The latter are not in the Champions League this season.

The Citizens' baffling struggles in Europe continue, as they succumbed to a shocking 2-1 defeat at the hands of CSKA Moscow - by far the most unheralded of the four teams in the group.

A brace from Seydou Doumbia sandwiched a brilliant free kick from Yaya Toure, who went from hero to villain after picking up an idiotic red card in the second half.

Had that been City's only blunder on the day, perhaps we would be talking about their current predicament in a different manner. Alas, Toure's moment of madness followed similar instances from Fernandinho, who managed to get sent off despite only being on the pitch for 24 minutes, and Gael Clichy, whose horrendous clearance led directly to Doumbia's winner. 

The players, and fans, were visibly frustrated. To lose is one thing, but to be so immature as to finish the match with nine men - which could have been eight after a horrible tackle from Samir Nasri - is inexcusable.

Manuel Pellegrini admitted after the match that he is having trouble understanding why the team is struggling so mightily in Europe. 

The rest of the footballing world is having similar feelings at the moment.

City is now faced with a must-win match against Bayern in their next Group E contest, while Roma and CSKA Moscow will do battle for the right to take a stranglehold on second place and a spot in the knockout stages. 

On paper, one would now expect Roma to join Bayern in the last 16, given the remaining fixtures for each team. If we've learned anything, it's that Group E doesn't care for our scripts.

Luiz Adriano continues to make history, while Chelsea fail to secure Round of 16 qualification

Gordon Brunt: Eight goals in two games is an incredible stat for any team.

However, when you pair those stats with a single player, they become figures many would expect to see in a video game.

Luiz Adriano did just that for Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, as he collected three goals against BATE Borisov to bring his tally to eight after finding the back of the net five times in their last meeting with the Belarusian football team.

While he failed to break as many records on this day as his five-goal performance a fortnight ago, Adriano achieved one unprecedented Champions League feat during Shakhtar's 5-0 victory:

Meanwhile, over in Group G, this picture pretty much sums up Chelsea's day: 

Following their first match, when Chelsea thumped Maribor 6-0 at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho's men had a golden opportunity to advance to the knockout round, but struggled mightily to break down the Slovenian club's stubborn defence this time around.

Chelsea's inability to score finally came back to haunt them when Agim Ibraimi created just enough space to unleash a superb shot into the top corner of the Chelsea net to give the hosts a shocking lead over the Premier League's top team.

It took 23 minutes for Chelsea to find an answer when Nemanja Matic scored a scrappy goal. The London club were on the verge of snatching a victory away from Maribor when Eden Hazard stepped up to the penalty spot, only to see his poor effort stopped. The hosts fought diligently the rest of the way for the draw.

At this point, however, advancing is close to being an inevitability for Chelsea as they possess a four-point cushion with winnable games against Schalke and Sporting Lisbon remaining.