The UEFA Champions League is the playground for the best in the world - the crème de la crème of football. For any striker, finishing as the top scorer in that competition is one of the highest honours. It an honour to finish as top goals scorer UEFA Champions League.

Since the competition was first rebranded in 1992, we've seen a real who's who of talent finish as a Champions League top scorer, as well as one or two names which might come as somewhat of a surprise.

2011/12 - Lionel Messi (14 Goals)

Top Goals Scorer in UEFA Champions League : Messi | Sportz Point — Lionel Messi (Image- Getty Images)

Just the 14 goals for Messi this year, and his Barcelona side didn't even reach the final.

Five goals in a 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen certainly helped his cause, but he failed to break down Chelsea's wall in the semi-final, hitting the bar with a penalty, and had to watch as the Blues went on to lift the trophy.

2012/13 - Cristiano Ronaldo ( 12 Goals)

And here's where the Ronaldo party really starts.

The Real Madrid man managed 12 goals in as many games, including one in both meetings with former employers United in the last 16, but a stunning collapse against Borussia Dortmund in the semis ended the fun there.

2013/14 - Cristiano Ronaldo ( 17 Goals)

Top Goals Scorer in UEFA Champions League : Ronaldo | Sportz Point — Cristiano Ronaldo (Image - Getty Images)

What makes this even crazier than it already is is that Ronaldo actually missed two games in the season and failed to score in another, so his goals all came across just ten matches.

2014/15 - Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar ( 10 Goals)

Sportz Point. — Neymar (Image- Getty Images)

How's that for a collection of talent?

We'll start with Ronaldo, whose Real side fell to Juventus in the semis despite a goal from Ronaldo in both legs.

However, his accomplishment was overshadowed by Barcelona duo Messi and Neymar, who both bagged ten goals as Barçelona cruised to yet another title, with Neymar particularly stealing the show late on.

2015/16 - Cristiano Ronaldo ( 16 Goals)

This year, Ronaldo's goals largely came in bulk: four against Malmö, three against Shakhtar Donetsk and another three against Wolfsburg.

He completely overwhelmed the rest of the competition, although he was quiet in the final as Los Blancos managed to beat Atlético Madrid on penalties.

2016/17 - Cristiano Ronaldo ( 12 Goals)

Ronaldo led Real to yet another title in the 2016/17 season, and he did so with a comparatively modest 12 goals.

It had actually been a quiet tournament for Ronaldo, who had just two goals to his name by the time the quarter-final arrived.

He bagged five across two legs against Bayern Munich before hitting another hat-trick against Atlético in the semis, and a double in the final was the perfect cherry on the cake.

2017/18 - Cristiano Ronaldo ( 15 Goals)

Another year, another top scorer prize and another Champions League title for Ronaldo.Unlike previous years, the Portugal international's stream of goals was pretty steady.

He scored in his first ten games of the competition, but his scoring was done by the time the semi-final arrived.

2018/19 - Lionel Messi ( 12 Goals)

The 2018/19 tournament started off so well for Messi. In fact, up until the second leg of the semi-final, it was all perfect. Messi had bagged 12 goals against the likes of PSV, Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.

He looked set to lead Barça to another title... only for Divock Origi to spoil the day in the most spectacular fashion!

2019/20 - Robert Lewandowski ( 15 Goals)

Top Goals Scorer in UEFA Champions League : Lewandowski | Sportz Point. — Robert Lewandowski (Image- Getty Images)

Breaking the reign of dominance shared by Ronaldo and Messi was Bayern's Robert Lewandowski, whose 15 goals had him five ahead of Dortmund's Erling Haaland in second place.

The Poland international only failed to score in one of his appearances in the Champions League, the final, but a slow day at the office for Lewandowski didn't stop Bayern from lifting the trophy at PSG's expense.

2021/22 - Erling Haaland ( 10 Goals)

Sportz Point. — Erling Haaland (Image- Getty Images)

Erling Haaland was the key man for Borussia Dortmund this year's and UEFA champions league, with 10 goals to his name.

Most of the goals came in the group stage, which BVB dominated yet they could just make the round of 16 this year.

Haaland will look to score more goals in the UEFA Champions League in the upcoming season for Manchester City.

As we approach the conclusion of another UEFA Champions League season, another name will be added to Top Goals Scorer in UEFA Champions League.

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