Champions League Winners and Losers from November 25
Sergio Aguero provided the late dramatics as Manchester City came from behind to beat 10-man Bayern Munich at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Lionel Messi bagged a hat-trick to overtake Raul as the Champions League's all-time leading goal-scorer and helped Barcelona to a one-sided 4-0 win away to APOEL.
But the evening's most lopsided scoreline was produced in Gelsenkirchen, where Chelsea dismantled Schalke to the tune of 5-0.
In the early matches, CSKA Moscow and AS Roma played to a 1-1 draw in Russia, while Porto thumped BATE Borisov, 3-0, in Belarus.
Finally, PSG scored a pair of late goals to see off Ajax, 3-1, in the French capital, while Athletic Bilbao edged Shakhtar Donetsk, 1-0, in Lviv.
Overall, the first half of Matchday 5 produced no shortage of standout performances and some underwhelming ones as well.
Following are the individual winners and losers from Tuesday's matches.
Winner: Lionel Messi, Who Broke Raul's Record
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It was only on Saturday that Lionel Messi broke Telmo Zarra's record to become the most prolific goalscorer in La Liga history.
After Tuesday, he now owns the Champions League mark as well.
On a memorable night in Cyprus, the 27-year-old poked Rafinha's pass into the back of the net to surpass Raul's haul of 71 goals in European football's most prestigious club competition, and he went on to tally a 73rd and 74th as well.
As Match of the Day pundit and former England international Gary Lineker remarked on Twitter, it is "extraordinary" that Messi is breaking so many high-profile records at such a relatively young age.
Loser: Kevin Strootman, Who Erred in His Champions League Debut for Roma
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Kevin Strootman missed the last two months of the 2013-14 season, the entire World Cup and the first quarter of the current campaign before finally making his return from a cruciate ligament injury for AS Roma.
On Tuesday, the Netherlands midfielder debuted in the Champions League for the Giallorossi, although it was a bow he'll surely be looking to forget as quickly as possible.
With Roma 1-0 up in Russia as the Group E contest entered stoppage time, Strootman coughed up the ball in dangerous space and allowed Vassili Berezoutski to score a late equaliser.
It was a giveaway, as Sportsnet's John Molinaro pointed out on Twitter, that "led directly" to the costly goal against.
Winner: Hector Herrera, Who Was Immense for Porto
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Hector Herrera followed up an impressive international break in which he starred for Mexico against the Netherlands with a standout showing for Porto in the Champions League.
Following a mostly uneventful first half against BATE Borisov in Belarus, the 24-year-old opened the scoring in spectacular fashion in the 56th minute when he beat goalkeeper Sergey Chernik to the far corner from an awkward angle.
Nine minutes later, he put Jackson Martinez through to score, and in the final minute of normal time, he picked up a second assist when Cristian Tello sealed the points for the Portuguese outfit.
Overall, Herrera touched the ball 83 times and completed 82 percent of his passes, as per WhoScored.com.
Winner: Nani, Who Helped Sporting CP Leapfrog Schalke in Group G
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It took nearly an hour longer than expected, but after the lights went back on in the Portuguese capital, Sporting CP secured an important 3-1 win over Maribor.
Front and centre in the victory, as he has been all season for the Lisbon giants, was Nani, who is on loan at the club from Manchester United.
In the 35th minute, he showed excellent footwork to leave several defenders in the dust before beating goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic to put his squad up 2-0. Midway through the second half, Nani picked up an assist after Islam Slimani sent his headed pass to the back of the net.
"How many defenders did he fool?" asked PortuGoal.net editor Tom Kundert on Twitter after the 28-year-old's goal.
Loser: Roberto Di Matteo, Who Will Have Wanted to Prove Something to Chelsea
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Schalke manager Roberto Di Matteo welcomed former club Chelsea to Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday, surely hoping to prove something to his former employers.
The Blues, after all, dismissed the Italian mere months after he took them to a first Champions League title, and a victory in the group stage of this year's tournament would have served as a measure of revenge, however small.
Instead, it was Chelsea who dominated from start to finish, romping to a 5-0 victory thanks to goals from John Terry, Willian, Didier Drogba and Ramires, as well as a Jan Kirchhoff own goal.
As football writer Liam Twomey pointed out via Twitter, Di Matteo and Schalke happened to run into Chelsea's best away performance of the season.
Winner: Sergio Aguero, Who Delivered 3 Points for Manchester City
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If Manchester City manage to slip into the last 16 of the Champions League, they'll have Sergio Aguero to thank.
The Premier League champions were always going to be up against it when they faced Bayern Munich on Tuesday, but after 20 minutes, Mehdi Benatia gifted them a way into the contest by getting sent off for a penalty offense committed against Aguero.
The Argentine made no mistake from the spot.
Then, after Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski had put the Bundesliga leaders into the lead with a pair of quick goals, the 26-year-old restored level terms with just five minutes remaining, pouncing on a misplaced Xabi pass before beating goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Five minutes after that, Aguero notched the match-winner after Jerome Boateng gifted him a shot.
"Sergio Aguero has thrown [Manchester City] on his shoulders," opined the BBC's Ben Smith on Twitter.
