Lionel Messi puts Champions League title first

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has admitted that he is not bothered by personal records as he wants his team to win the Champions League this season.

The Argentine netted a hat-trick on Wednesday night as Barca opened their new European campaign with a 4-0 win over Ajax at Camp Nou in Group H.

Messi is now just nine goals short of Raul's all-time record in the competition, but the 26-year-old has insisted that he is not thinking about individual achievements.

"Obviously I am pleased that tonight makes it 62 UEFA Champions League goals but above that is the result and how our team played," Messi told reporters. "I thought this was a very good Ajax side, always attempting to play football, to win the ball off us and to keep it.

"So to get a win of this margin has been a good night's work. It was good to play against a rival who wanted to compete in pure football terms with us. That will have made it a good game to watch. The idea of overtaking Raul at the top of the all-time Champions League scoring charts is a fine challenge, but it is not essential.

"We, as a team, have other more important objectives. For example, to get as far as we are capable of in this competition. To try to win it again. Whether the right number of goals come for me this season or not is not so important."

Barcelona travel to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday.