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Sports Mole looks at the top 10 goalscorers in the history of the Champions League and the top five scorers participating in this season’s competition.
The Champions League features Europe’s best teams and players, and some of football’s finest goals have been scored in UEFA’s premier club competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in the tournament, having netted 141 times in 187 appearances for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Lionel Messi is Ronaldo’s closest competitor, with 129 goals in 163 appearances, though he will likely never equal the Portuguese’s tally given he is playing in MLS for Inter Miami.
No other player in the history of the competition has reached the 100-goal mark, though Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski has scored on 94 occasions.
© Imago
Karim Benzema is the only other player to have netted at least 90 times, and there is a sizable gap between the Frenchman and fifth-placed Raul Gonzalez, who has scored 71 times.
The only players in the top 20 list who will compete in the 2024-25 edition of the Champions League are Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.
Haaland’s tally of 41 goals is particularly impressive considering he has accumulated this total in just 39 games.
Here, Sports Mole outlines the top 10 goalscorers in the history of the Champions League, as well as the top five goalscorers who will participate in this season’s competition.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (141 goals)
© Reuters
Goals: 141
Appearances: 187
Ratio: 0.75 goals per game
Assists: 42
Overall goal contributions: 183 (0.98 per game)
Years active: 2002-present
Champions League clubs:
Sporting Lisbon (0 goals in 2 games)
Manchester United (22 goals in 61 games)
Real Madrid (105 goals 102 games)
Juventus (14 goals in 23 games)
Highest-scoring season: 17 goals (11 games, 2013-14)
First goal: August 9, 2005 (vs. Debrecen)
Last goal: November 23, 2022 (vs. Villarreal)
2. Lionel Messi (129 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 129
Appearances: 163
Ratio: 0.79 goals per game
Assists: 40
Overall goal contributions: 169 (1.04 per game)
Years active: 2004-present
Champions League clubs:
Barcelona (120 goals in 149 games)
Paris Saint-Germain (9 goals in 14 games)
Highest-scoring season: 14 goals (11 games, 2011-12)
First goal: February 11, 2005 (vs. Panathinaikos)
Last goal: October 25, 2022 (vs. Maccabi Haifa)
3. Robert Lewandowski (94 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 94
Appearances: 120
Ratio: 0.78 goals per game
Assists: 21
Overall goal contributions: 115 (0.96 per game)
Years active: 2007-present
Champions League clubs:
Borussia Dortmund (17 goals in 28 games)
Bayern Munich (69 goals in 78 games)
Barcelona (8 goals in 14 games)
Highest-scoring season: 15 goals (10 games, 2019-20)
First goal: October 19, 2011 (vs. Olympiacos)
Last goal: September 19, 2023 (vs. Royal Antwerp)
4. Karim Benzema (90 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 90
Appearances: 152
Ratio: 0.59 goals per game
Assists: 28
Overall goal contributions: 118 (0.78 per game)
Years active: 2004-present
Champions League clubs:
Lyon (12 goals in 19 games)
Real Madrid (78 goals in 133 games)
Highest-scoring season: 15 goals (12 games, 2021-22)
First goal: December 6, 2005 (vs. Rosenborg)
Last goal: April 12, 2023 (vs. Chelsea)
5. Raul Gonzalez (71 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 71
Appearances: 139
Ratio: 0.51 goals per game
Assists: 23
Overall goal contributions: 94 (0.68 per game)
Years active: 1994-2015
Champions League clubs:
Real Madrid (66 goals in 127 games)
Schalke (5 goals in 12 games)
Highest-scoring season: 10 goals (15 games, 1999-00)
First goal: October 18, 1995 (vs. Ferencvaros)
Last goal: April 13, 2011 (vs. Inter Milan)
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy (60 goals)
© Reuters
Goals: 60
Appearances: 81
Ratio: 0.74 goals per game
Assists: 18
Overall goal contributions: 78 (0.96 per game)
Years active: 1998-2012
Champions League clubs:
PSV Eindhoven (9 goals in 15 games)
Manchester United (38 goals in 47 games)
Real Madrid (13 goals in 19 games)
Highest-scoring season: 12 goals (9 games, 2002-03)
First goal: August 26, 1998 (vs. NK Maribor)
Last goal: October 21, 2008 (vs. Juventus)
7. Andriy Shevchenko (59 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 59
Appearances: 112
Ratio: 0.53 goals per game
Assists: 25
Overall goal contributions: 84 (0.75 per game)
Years active: 1992-2012
Champions League clubs:
Dynamo Kyiv (22 goals in 35 games)
AC Milan (33 goals in 62 games)
Chelsea (4 goals in 15 games)
Highest-scoring season: 9 goals (12 games, 2005-06)
First goal: December 7, 1994 (vs. Bayern Munich)
Last goal: August 25, 2010 (vs. Ajax)
8. Thomas Muller (54 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 54
Appearances: 153
Ratio: 0.35 goals per game
Assists: 34
Overall goal contributions: 88 (0.58 per game)
Years active: 2006-present
Champions League clubs:
Bayern Munich (54 goals in 153 games)
Highest-scoring season: 8 goals (13 games, 2012-13) | 8 goals (12 games, 2015-16)
First goal: March 10, 2009 (vs. Sporting Lisbon)
Last goal: March 5, 2024 (vs. Lazio)
9. Thierry Henry (51 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 51
Appearances: 115
Ratio: 0.44 goals per game
Assists: 24
Overall goal contributions: 75 (0.65 per game)
Years active: 1994-2014
Champions League clubs:
Monaco (7 goals in 9 games)
Arsenal (35 goals in 78 games)
Barcelona (9 goals in 28 games)
Highest-scoring season: 7 goals (12 games, 2002-03) | 7 goals (11 games, 2001-02) | 7 goals (9 games, 1997-98)
First goal: October 1, 1997 (vs. Bayer Leverkusen)
Last goal: April 8, 2009 (vs. Bayern Munich)
10. Filippo Inzaghi (50 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 50
Appearances: 85
Ratio: 0.59 goals per game
Assists: 6
Overall goal contributions: 56 (0.66 per game)
Years active: 1990-2012
Champions League clubs:
Juventus (17 goals in 26 games)
AC Milan (33 goals in 59 games)
Highest-scoring season: 10 goals (14 games, 2002-03)
First goal: September 17, 1997 (vs. Feyenoord)
Last goal: November 3, 2010 (vs. Real Madrid)
Top five goalscorers participating in the 2024-25 Champions League
1. Robert Lewandowski (94 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 94
2. Thomas Muller (54 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 54
3. Kylian Mbappe (48 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 48
Appearances: 73
Ratio: 0.66 goals per game
Assists: 26
Overall goal contributions: 74 (1.01 per game)
Years active: 2015-present
Champions League clubs:
Monaco (6 goals in 9 games)
Paris Saint-Germain (42 goals in 64 games)
Highest-scoring season: 8 goals (12 games, 2023-24) | 8 goals (10 games, 2020-21)
First goal: February 21, 2017 (vs. Manchester City)
Last goal: April 16, 2024 (vs. Barcelona)
3. Mohamed Salah (48 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 48
Appearances: 89
Ratio: 0.54 goals per game
Assists: 17
Overall goal contributions: 65 (0.73 per game)
Years active: 2009-present
Champions League clubs:
Basel (5 goals in 12 games)
Chelsea (0 goals in 2 games)
Roma (1 goal in 9 games)
Liverpool (42 goals in 66 games)
Highest-scoring season: 10 goals (13 games, 2017-18)
First goal: August 6, 2013 (vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Last goal: February 21, 2023 (vs. Real Madrid)
5. Erling Haaland (41 goals)
© Imago
Goals: 41
Appearances: 39
Ratio: 1.05 goals per game
Assists: 5
Overall goal contributions: 46 (1.18 per game)
Years active: 2016-present
Champions League clubs:
RB Salzburg (8 goals in 6 games)
Borussia Dortmund (15 goals in 13 games)
Manchester City (18 goals in 20 games)
Highest-scoring season: 12 goals (11 games, 2022-23)
First goal: September 17, 2019 (vs. KRC Genk)
Last goal: March 6, 2024 (vs. FC Copenhagen)
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