Most Champions League Goals in a Season

The UEFA Champions League is considered the world's most prestigious club tournament. The players can become legends with great performances in Europe's top competition. And since scoring goals is considered the most glamorous skill in football, those who find the back of the net consistently can earn legendary status in the game. Talents like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe look like they have what it takes to match the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have left their indelible mark on this elite tournament. Now, let's see the list of the players with the most Champions League goals in a Season.

Ronaldo & Messi's goal-scoring record

At the end of the day, it's the trophy that everyone wants to win. One of the most difficult to win, and arguably the most prestigious honours any team in world football can achieve. Several individuals have dominated this competition like no other.

Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the greatest player in the history of the tournament with five titles and 140 goals to his name. A blistering goalscoring record that has left legends of the game miles behind.

Lionel Messi is in the second position in terms of scoring with 129 goals. He also has four titles to his name.

However, a contender is mounting a claim. The Machine of Manchester City, Erling Haaland, made a lightning-fast start to life in the Champions League. Expectations are sky-high that he can challenge the all-time greats in the lists below.

Most Champions League Goals in a Season

1. Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013/14: 17 Goals

The greatest goalscoring season in UEFA Champions League history came in 2013-14 when Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo scored 17 times. He made a huge contribution to their title win.

Ronaldo started the season in the best way possible. He scored a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 6-1 away win at Galatasaray on Match Day 1. He then went on to score six more goals in the group stage.

Ronaldo scored four goals combined against Schalke in the Round of 16. He also scored a goal in the quarter-final and two in the Semi-Final.

The Portuguese star finished off his campaign in style with a 120th-minute strike to seal a 4-1 victory in the final against rivals Atlético Madrid.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015/16: 16 Goals

In the 2025/16 season, Cristiano Ronaldo was one goal away from equalling his own record of goals scored in a Champions League season.

He scored 16 times in the 2015-16 campaign on the way to winning the competition with Real Madrid once again.

Ronaldo scored 11 goals in the group stage of the 2015-16 edition, which is a record by a single player in a UCL campaign.

He yet again opened the season with a hat-trick, this time against Shakhtar Donetsk and ended the group stage with another brilliant performance, scoring four goals against Malmö FF.

The Portuguese didn't score in the final against Atlético Madrid, but he did go on to score the winning penalty in the shootout, as Real Madrid picked up the trophy in Milan.

3. Robert Lewandowski in 2019/20: 15 Goals

Lewandowski came into the 2019-20 Champions League final knowing that a goal would see him replicate Ronaldo's feat of scoring in ten different UCL games in a season.

He didn't succeed, but Bayern still picked up the trophy with a 1-0 win over PSG in the final.

Lewandowski scored in all nine of his games before the final (15 goals). 

Read Also: Football Facts: Managers with most UCL titles 

4. Karim Benzema in 2021/22: 15 Goals

Karim Benzema's ten goals among the 15 goals in 2021-22 came in the knockout stages of the competition, a joint record alongside Ronaldo in 2016-17.

He scored a hat-trick in the second leg of the last 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain. In the quarter-final, the French striker smashed another hat-trick in the first leg against Chelsea and scored a goal in the quarter-final second leg.

He didn't just stop there and went on to score three goals in the semi-finals across two legs against Manchester City.

Although he didn't score in the final against Liverpool, Real Madrid still won the title once again.

5. Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017/18: 15 Goals

That's why you call him Mr Champions League!

Cristiano Ronaldo's third-highest-scoring UCL season came in 2017-18 at Real Madrid. The Portuguese legend scored 15 times as Real Madrid went on to win the competition in the final against Liverpool.

Ronaldo didn't score in the final but did score in ten other games that season to equal his own record tally of ten UCL games scored in a single season alongside his record in 2013-14.

6. Kylian Mbappe in 2025/26: 15 goals

After their defeat at the hands of FC Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 quarter-final, Kylian Mbappe finished the season with 15 goals in a season.

This is the best goal-scoring season he has had so far in his Champions League career. 

Although the Real Madrid forward created this record in a longer, revamped Champions League format, where he played 12 games, Mbappe's goal-scoring record should not be ignored. Mbappe started with a brace against Marseille and then scored a hat-trick against Kairat. He then went on to score four goals in a single game against Olympiacos. 

He scored two or more goals in a match five times in the season.

Read also: Football facts: Players with most Champions League finals without winning it ever

7. Lionel Messi in 2011/12: 14 Goals

Lionel Messi's best goalscoring season in the Champions League came back in 2011-12.

This was a season where Messi broke all sorts of records, with a phenomenal 73 goals in 60 games. He scored 14 of those goals in the UCL, including five in a single match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in March 2012.

This remained one of only two occasions that a player has scored five times in a Champions League match, but the only time that they have come in a knockout stage game. After 10 years, Haaland became the joint record holder in the 2022-23 season.

Messi's Barcelona side were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals against the 2011-12 winners, Chelsea. Messi failed to score in both legs despite attempting 12 shots overall.

Read Also: Top 10 players with the most goals in a single season

7. Robert Lewandowski in 2021/22: 13 Goals

Robert Lewandowski scored 13 goals in his final season as a Bayern Munich player. The Polish striker took ten games to take his total UCL goal tally to 69 for the Bundesliga Champions.

Only Lionel Messi (120 for Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (105 for Real Madrid), and Karim Benzema (74 for Real Madrid) have scored more for a single club in the competition.

That season, he scored nine goals in Bayern's first five matches, but their eventual defeat in the quarter-finals against Villarreal denied his chances of scoring more.

Read Also: Top 10 Defenders with Most Goals in the 21st Century

Most Champions League Goals in a Season - The Full List