Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list of ‘most goals in Champions League history’ after he became the first player on earth to reach 80-goal-milestone in the UCL during Tuesday’s 4-0 group stage victory over FC Shaktar Donetsk, per UEFA.com.
Ronaldo entered the game with 77 Champions League goals and scored a finely taken hat-trick to reach the milestone. In the second place lies none other than Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, who has scored 77 goals in the Champions League.
The Portuguese scored his first goal through a penalty kick, after Donetsk defender Darijo Srna committed a handball in the box.
The former Manchester United striker added another in the 63rd minute via penalty, when once again another Donetsk player was culpable of handling the ball.
Ronaldo completed the hat-trick in the 81st minute with a finely taken header to give Madrid a 4-0 advantage. It was his third hat-trick in the Champions League and he now holds the new UCL record of scoring most goals (11) from penalty kicks.
His Real Madrid teammate, Karim Benzema also entered the hall of fame, after breaking into the Top 10 Champions League all time goal scorers list.
Benzema, who opened the scoring against Shaktar, has now 43 goals to his game and tied with PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic in tenth place. Zlatan however is the only player to have scored for six different clubs in the competition.
Most Goals in Champions League (group stage to final)
80: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
77: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
71: Raúl González (Real Madrid, Schalke)
56: Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)
50: Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)
48: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan, Chelsea, Dynamo Kyiv)
46: Alfredo Di Stéfano (Real Madrid)
46: Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus, AC Milan)
44: Didier Drogba (Olympique Marseille, Galatasaray, Chelsea)
43: Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais, Real Madrid),
43: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Ajax, Juventus, Internazionale Milano, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)
42: Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)
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