Most Champions League Goals In History

Champions League is the biggest and best European football tournament. Clubs all over Europe compete for the eligibility to play in the Champions League. Top clubs from different national leagues get the opportunity to play and compete for the biggest prize money in European football. So far now Real Madrid has been the best club in the tournament. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the most champions league goals in the competition's history.

History of the Champions League

The competition started in 1955. Back then the name of the tournament was Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens (French for European Champion Clubs' Cup). Although the tournament was commonly known as the "European Cup".

In 1992, the name of the tournament was changed to UEFA Champions League. There is also a second-tier and third tier of the Champions League. The team that does not qualify for the Champions League but next-in-line gets to play the UEFA Europa League. Further, the teams in line but who do not qualify for the Europa League will play in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Some interesting Champions League stats

• Gerd Muller has the 0.95 goals per game ratio in Champions League, the most by any player.
• Lionel Messi with 0.8 goals per match has the best ratio in the modern era.
• Real Madrid with 13 Champions League Titles is the most successful club in the champions league.
• With 134 goals in the UCL, Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest scorer in the champions league history.
• Lionel Messi has scored the most champions league goals for a single team; 120 for FC Barcelona.

Most Champions League Goals in history

Let's look at the top 10 players with most champions league goals in history in detail.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo- 134 UCL goals

Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the best player in the Champions League history. The number 7 from Portugal has been successful wherever he played. Be it for Manchester United, Real Madrid or Juventus, he has been simply the best in the world.

Perhaps, in 2021 he became the first-ever player to score more than 100 goals in the top three leagues in Europe. Ronaldo was most successful with Real Madrid by scoring 105 goals in 101 game. In fact, he is also the highest goal-scorer for Real Madrid in the club's history. Ronaldo is also one of the rare players to win 5 champions league titles as well.

Ronaldo's goal tally for Manchester United is 15 and for Juventus FC is 14.

Read Also: Ronaldo records: Only player to be top scorer of the season in three different leagues

#2 Lionel Messi-120 UCL goals

Now, in every football record, if there is Cristiano, there should be Messi as well. This is how the rivalry has been between the all-time greats of the game. Unlike Ronaldo, Messi has done it with only one team, FC Barcelona.

Messi has scored 120 goals in the Champions League and is second on the list of most champions league goals in history. The little genius took 149 matches to reach that mark. While scoring all of those goals, Messi also became the highest goal scorer for Barcelona as well.



Messi also has 42 assists in the Champions League playing for Barcelona.

Read Also: Most La Liga Titles in the last 20 years

#3 Robert Lewandoski- 73 UCL goals

The 32 years Poland National Player is ageing just like wine. Robert Lewandoski has played all his UEFA Champions League matches for German teams.

He started his champions league career with Borrusia Dortmund. He scored 17 goals in 28 matches before leaving for Bayern Munich. After joining Bayern, Lewandoski started to score at his full potential. Soon, he became the highest scorer in the champions league for Bayern Munich.

Lewandoski till now has scored 56 goals in 68 matches for Bayern Munich in the champions league.

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#4 Karim Benzema- 71 UCL goals

The next on the list of most champions league goals is Karim Benzema of Real Madrid. The senior pro in the Real Madrid team is their main player now after Ronaldo left for Juventus.

Benzema before joining Real Madrid was with the Olympique Lyon team. He featured in 19 champions league game for them and had scored 12 goals as well.

After joining the most successful club in the champions league history, Benzema became more lethal. Along with Ronaldo and Bale, he formed one of the most famous trios of modern football, B-B-C. If it was not for the injuries he had, Benzema could have more champions league goals against his name.

Till now he has scored 59 goals for Real Madrid in the Champions League.

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#5 Raul- 71 UCL goals

The Real Madrid legend was the king of the Champions League before bidding goodbye to the game. The then no.7 of Real Madrid is one of the greatest strikers of all time. However, he is much underrated due to his nature.

Raul started his Champions League career with FC Schalke 04. Though he only had played 12 UCL matches for them and scored 5 goals for them. However, just like other Real Madrid players on the list, Raul began to showcase his talent in the Madrid jersey.

In the Real Madrid jersey, Raul played 130 UCL matches and scored 66 matches. Raul had played a then-record 10.936 minutes in the Champions League.

Raul also won 3 champions league with Real Madrid.

Read Also: Top 10: Most Free-kick Goals In Football History

#6 Ruud van Nistelrooy- 56 UCL goals

Strong, athletic and a great finisher- Nistelrooy had all of those that a striker needed to score freely even in the biggest competition in the world.

The Dutch striker started his career with PSV Eindhoven. He scored 8 UCL goals in just 11 games for them before joining the Real Madrid team. With Real, he had a great time also. He scored 13 goals in 19 UCL matches for the Spanish giants.

But, his best football came out when he joined Manchester United from Real Madrid. Perhaps, Nistelrooy has the most champions league goals than any other Manchester United player in the club's history. He has scored 35 goals in 43 UCL matches for the Manchester United club.

Read Also: Most Premier League Titles by English Clubs: Premier League 2021

#7 Thierry Henry- 50 UCL goals

A member of Arsenal's invincible team, Henry is remembered for his success with Arsenal. Henry's 50 goals in the Champions League makes him the 7th player with the most champions league goals in football history.

Henry had spent a few seasons at AS Monaco and FC Barcelona before joining Arsenal. Henry had scored 7 goals for AS Monaco and 9 for Barcelona.

Henry's UCL Stats for Arsenal is - 77 matches, 35 goals, 15 assists. Henry is probably the most important player for Arsenal's modern-day football.



And yes, he is Arsenal's top scorer in the champions league.

Read Also: 10 Most FA Cup Winners List: FA cup in detail

#8 Alfredo di Stefano- 49 UCL goals

The best of his generation, Stefano is a legend of the game who the ultimate king of the champions league before there was anyone else. In fact, he was the leading goal scorer in the champions league when he retired in 1966-67.

The 1957 and 1959 Ballon d'Or winner is probably the most important player in Real Madrid's legacy. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, he is the club's most successful player with 5 Champions League titles with the club.

He played 58 European Champion Club's Cup (Old name of UCL) matches for Real Madrid and scored 49 goals. Before his death, he was the club president of Real Madrid.

Alfredo di Stefano is also one of those rare footballers who played for more than one country. He played for both Argentina and Spain as he had citizenship in both countries.

Read Also: Football Facts: Son-Father Football Pair Who Played For Same Club

#9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic- 48 UCL goals

So, why Zlatan is on this list? Simply because Zlatan wants to.

There is no one in the football world who is as confident as Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But the interesting part is that he delivers. Zlatan played for 7 teams in the champions league, the most by anyone on this list.

He has played for PSG, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus FC, Barcelona, Ajax Amsterdam, and Manchester United in the champions league. Except for Manchester United, he has scored for all of them in the competition.

Zlatan's goal tally looks like this-

#10 Andriy Shevchenko- 48 UCL goals

Shevchenko was one of the best strikers of his time and the best striker of AC Milan's history. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, AC Milan was the team to beat in the champions league. And, Shevchenko was their main man in the attack.

Shevchenko started his UCL career with his national league's team, Dynamo Kyiv. Then moved to AC Milan in the 2000-01 season and became the top scorer in the Champions League with 9 goals. He parted with AC Milan in 2007 and joined Chelsea. Although, he had won the 2002-03 Champions League with AC Milan before leaving.

After leaving Chelsea, he retired from professional football in 2012 at his home team, Dynamo Kyiv.

Shevchenko scored 29 UCL goals for AC Milan, 15 for Dynamo Kyiv and 4 for Chelsea. He also was the winner of 2004 Ballon d'Or.

Who is your favorite among these legends of the game? Let us know in the comment section.