The Champions League popularly known as the European Cup organised by UEFA since 1955 is arguably the most popular football tournament across Europe. Taking a look into the Champions league top scorers of all time; well it does include a bunch of legendary players from all across the globe:
List of Top 10 Champions League Scorers of All Time
10. Filippo Inzaghi
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The Italian stands 10th in the Champions League top scorers of all time. He played as a striker for many Italian clubs, the most notable ones among them being with Juventus and Milan. The Champions League scorer has a total goal tally of 46 goals, 17 with Juventus and 29 with Milan along with 4 goals in the qualification matches. He has won two titles in 2003 and 2007 and has always been a top scorer for his clubs.
9. Andriy Shevchenko
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The Ukrainian stands tall in the Champions League scorers of all time. The top scorer has scored 48 goals; 15 for Dynamo Kyiv, 29 for A.C. Milan and 4 for Chelsea. He has also scored 11 goals in the qualification matches. He won the Champions League with Milan in 2003 and was a runner up in 2005 and 2008. Following the elimination of Ukraine from UEFA Euro 2016, he was appointed as Ukraine’s head coach.
8. Zlatan Ibrahimović
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A player who needs no introduction; the Swedish giant is 8th in the Champions League scorers of all time. Having played for a handful of clubs across Europe, he has 48 goals to his name; 6 with Ajax, 3 with Juventus, 6 with Inter Milan, 4 with Barcelona, 9 with A.C. Milan and 20 with PSG. Needless to say, Zlatan has proved his worth as a top scorer wherever he has played. Although he has never won the title, he still remains to be one of the most important Champions League scorers.
7. Thierry Henry
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Although Di Stéfano has a count of 49 goals in the European Cup (including qualifying rounds), yet the Frenchman surpasses him as the 7th top scorer of Champions league with 50 goals; 7 with Monaco, 35 with Arsenal and 8 with Barcelona. He led Arsenal to the 2006 UEFA Champions League final and was a key part of the team when he won the title with Barcelona in the 2008-2009 season which was also the year when they won the historic treble. Regarded as one of the best strikers of all time, Henry was a talisman and a top scorer wherever he played.
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy
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The Dutch legend ranks 6th in the Champions league scorers of all time having scored a total of 56 goals in just 73 appearances having a goal ratio of 0.77; 8 with PSV, 35 with Manchester United and 13 with Real Madrid. He has also scored 4 goals in 8 qualification matches. He is a three time Champions league top scorer as well as a top scorer in three different European domestic leagues. He is currently the coach of the PSV Eindhoven under-19s team and assistant manager for Netherlands.
5. Robert Lewandowski
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One of the greatest strikers in modern day football, Lewandowski has 64 goals to his name in 86 appearances; 17 with Borussia Dortmund and 47 with Bayern Munich in the list of top scorers of the Champions League. The Polish captain earned Dortmund a spot in the 2013 UEFA Champions League final; a tournament in which he was the second top scorer behind Ronaldo. He was named to the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season two times. One of the best Champions League scorers and the strikers of this generation.
4. Karim Benzema
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Karim Benzema has always been the most underappreciated players both for his club and country. The Frenchman has proved his worth over the years more than anyone else with a career spanning over 14 years. He has scored 64 goals in 119 appearances; 12 for Lyon and 52 for Real Madrid having a goal ratio of 0.54. One of the top Champions League scorers of all time, he has won 4 Champions League titles. He is one of the most important players who was instrumental in winning Madrid three UCL titles in a row and is deservedly one of Zidane’s most favourite players. He is also the 4th top scorer for most UCL goals for one club. One of the most loyal servants of his club; Benzema has scored 4 goals each in this UCL and its previous edition especially after the departure of Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
3. Raúl González
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Raúl ranks 3rd in the Champions league scorers of all time. The Spanish striker is one of the top scorers in the history of Madrid and regarded as one of the greatest Spanish players of all time. He is the current manager of Real Madrid Castilla. Having played for around 16 years from 1995 to 2011, he has scored 71 goals in 142 appearances with a goal ratio of 0.5 making him one of the best Champions League scorers. He has won three UEFA Champions League titles scoring in two finals and is the second all-time top scorer of Real Madrid with 323 goals just behind Ronaldo. He won the top scorer award of the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2001 and was also included in the UEFA list of the 50-best European players of the 1954–2004 period.
2. Lionel Messi
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Messi is arguably the greatest footballer of all time and surely does include his name in ever record out there. When it comes to the Champions League scorers, he ranks 2nd behind his greatest rival. The Argentine captain is most loyal to his club. He is now the captain of Barcelona too. He has scored a mind boggling figure of 114 goals in just 42 matches with a goal ratio of 0.81 which is greater than any other player, even Ronaldo. With a career spanning over fifteen years, he has already won 4 UCL titles and is Barcelona’s all-time top scorer. He has also scored 8 Champions League hat-tricks and is a complete playmaker and goal-scorer in every sense. He also secured a record sixth Ballon d’Or in 2019 surpassing Ronaldo’s 5.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
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Nobody is greater than Cristiano when it comes to the UEFA Champions League. Popularly known as the master of the UCL and speculated as the greatest goal-scorer of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer of the Champions League. The captain of the Portuguese national team; with a career spanning over 17 years from 2003; he has scored a total of 128 goals in 169 appearances with a goal ratio of 0.76; 15 with Manchester United, 105 with Real Madrid and 8 with Juventus. Ronaldo additionally scored 1 goal in 4 qualification matches. After winning the third consecutive UEFA Champions League title in 2018 with the iconic forward trio of Bale-Benzema-Cristiano in Madrid, he became the first player to win the UCL title 5 times and left for his new venture in Juventus. He has won the Ballon D’or 5 times just one beyond his nemesis, Messi. Unarguably, the king of UCL and the greatest Champions League scorer.
Here is the list of Top 10 Champions League Scorers of All Time.
10. Filippo Inzaghi
9. Andriy Shevchenko
8. Zlatan Ibrahimović
7. Thierry Henry
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy
5. Robert Lewandowski
4. Karim Benzema
3. Raúl González
2. Lionel Messi
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
- By Syed Tawsif Ahmed