The best Champions League strikers of all time
The Champions League is the biggest club competition in the world, and everyone knows this.
UEFA has done a brilliant job in maintaining an incredible standard for the competition over the years, and they also have the individual European leagues to thank for the continuous quality.
Europe has the most glamorous leagues in the world, and every player dreams of playing for clubs around the continent.
Because they have the best players around, the competition also has some of the finest talents in all positions.
One of the most important spots in every team is the goalscorer spot, and attackers are usually tasked with ensuring the teams have the right amount of goals in them.
The Champions League sees a different goalscoring hero in every season of the competition, but some players have maintained a high standard for several seasons.
These individuals scored so much that their records remain even when they no longer play in the competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two famous namesCristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two famous names we expect to get on the scoresheet in every Champions League game.
The duo spent a better part of their career competing against each other, and their rivalry pushed each player to new heights.
Ronaldo was in Madrid, and Messi played at Barcelona, two of the biggest clubs in Spain, and their rivalry spanned beyond their domestic competitions.
Both men no longer play in Europe, but their legacies remain as men who sold-out Champions League tickets for several decades.
We have new heroes now, with Erling Haaland helping Manchester City to finally win the Champions League last season.
Kylian Mbappe remains one of the most effective goalscorers in the world and always comes live on UCL nights.
The Frenchman and Haaland are two men we expect to lead the scoring charts in Europe in the next few seasons and they hardly have rivalry on the continent.
But they have a long way to go in reaching the heights some strikers have reached in terms of scoring goals in the competition.
In this article, we look at the best strikers the Champions League has produced by the number of goals they scored in the competition.
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy remains one of the finest goalscorers the Netherlands has ever produced, and he was one of the best players on Champions League nights.
The former PSV manager played for the Dutch club, Manchester United and Real Madrid in the competition, scoring 56 goals in Europe's top club competition for all three teams combined.
His early career form at PSV made several European clubs show an interest in his signature, but United won the race for his signature.
He scored 38 goals in 47 Champions League matches for United before bagging 13 from 19 matches in the competition for Real Madrid.
5. Raul Gonzalez
Raul is one of the best strikers Spain has ever produced, and he spent most of his career on the books of Real Madrid.
He was a sensation in real life and on the PS1 and PS2 video games as one of the best chance finishers in the world.
Raul ended his career with 71 Champions League goals, which he scored for Madrid and Schalke 04.
He scored 66 times in the competition for Real Madrid, where he spent much of his career before his short spells at other clubs.
Most of today's football fans only know about Ronaldo and Messi because of their great rivalry and the help of social media.
But Raul was one of the best strikers the game has ever produced, and his record in the Champions League was remarkable, considering it is better than more popular players like Ronaldo de Lima.
4. Karim Benzema
Benzema spent most of his career in the shadows of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
The latter two were his teammates at Madrid and often earned all the plaudits for their performances on the pitch for the Spanish club.
However, Benzema scored 90 Champions League goals, which is remarkable for a player who mostly created chances for his more popular teammates.
He left Madrid in the last transfer window after winning five Champions League trophies, the last of which was in 2022.
He now plays in the Saudi Pro League, but Benzema deserves more respect than he gets, considering his remarkable contribution to the European game.
3. Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is the only player on our list who is still playing in Europe and has the chance to improve his goal tally further.
The Pole has played in the Champions League for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, where he still does well.
The Catalans snapped up arguably the most lethal number nine on the continent when they added Lewandowski to their squad last season.
The Pole has already scored seven goals in just 9 European games for them, but overall, he has 92 Champions League goals.
This is remarkable for someone not every fan on the globe cares about when naming the top players on the continent.
His best season in the competition was arguably the 2019/2020 campaign when he won the Champions League with Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski scored 15 times in the competition that season, and only the outbreak of COVID-19 stopped him from winning the Ballon d'Or award, as the organisers chose not to give the award that year.
2. Lionel Messi
This is one stat table that Lionel Messi isn't at the top, and it does not mean his record in the Champions League is not superb.
The Argentinian now plays for Inter Miami in the MLS and has ended his spell in European football for good.
However, he left his mark on the continent's biggest stage when he left the competition.
Messi scored 129 Champions League goals for Barcelona and PSG, with most of the goals coming when he played for the Spanish side.
The attacker broke onto the scene as a prodigy and remarkably lived up to the expectations at Barcelona as he won four Champions League titles and several other trophies at Barca.
He did not do well in Europe at PSG but still left his mark on the French club in their domestic competitions.
Messi is arguably the greatest ever football, but that will always be subject to a debate, he is absolutely one of the best, if not the best, ever player we have watched in the Champions League and only Ronaldo scored more goals than the Argentinian.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo left the European football scene as the best player in the history of the Champions League, and it will take decades before anyone comes close to the Portugal captain.
He scored 140 goals in the competition for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
The Al Nassr star is still going strong in the Saudi Pro League and is also the leading scorer in international men's football as well as the history of Real Madrid.
In his 30s, he cost Juventus a record fee and scored at least 100 goals in all competitions for the Italian club when he left them after three seasons.
Ronaldo's achievements can hardly be contained in one article, but the performances he delivered in the Champions League will be with us for a lifetime and he will be talked about decades after now.
He has announced that he is finished with European football, but Ronaldo could be back on the continent in the future as he shows no signs of stopping despite already clocking 38.
