Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Karim Benzema are three of the five leading goalscorers in the history of the UEFA Champions League (UCL). Ronaldo is the tournament’s leading scorer of all time, having scored 140 times in 183 games. In the second place, we have Lionel Messi, who has 129 goals (163 games) to his name. Lastly, we have Benzema, who is the UEFA Champions League’s fourth-highest scorer of all time with 90 goals in 152 matches.
The three superstars have enthralled fans for years, producing legendary Champions League moments. Unfortunately, they have all left Europe and will not grace the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League with their presence.
Moving on from the trio will be a tough task, but there is still plenty of firepower left in Europe’s most popular cup competition. Read on to meet UCL’s five all-time leading scorers who will compete in this season’s iteration.
#5 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) – 30 goals
One of the most versatile forwards in the business, Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann claims the fifth spot. The French attacker has scored an impressive 30 times and provided 10 assists in 85 Champions League matches.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner’s UEFA Champions League journey started with Real Sociedad in the 2013-14 season. He played six UCL games that season, but failed to get on the scoresheet. Griezmann spent the next five seasons at Atletico, scoring 21 times in 48 games. An ill-fated move to Barcelona was finalized in the summer of 2019, but he failed to play his best football at Camp Nou. Two seasons, 16 Champions League games, and four goals later, he returned to Atletico.
He has since played 15 games for Los Rojiblancos, netting five times and providing three assists.
#4 Erling Haaland (Manchester City) – 35 goals
Last season’s UEFA Champions League top scorer, Erling Haaland has been scoring at an astonishing rate in Europe. In just 30 matches, he has scored 35 times, emerging as the only player on this list with an average of more than 1.
The 22-year-old has played for three teams in the UEFA Champions League thus far, RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, and, of course, Manchester City. He spent the 2019-20 season at Salzburg, scoring eight times in six games. The next three seasons saw him score an impressive 15 times in 13 matches for Dortmund. Finally, last season, he scored 12 times in 11 games for City as they bagged their first-ever UEFA Champions League trophy.
#3 Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) – 40 goals
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)’s posterboy, Kylian Mbappe is the third name on the list. The Frenchman has scored 40 times in 61 UEFA Champions League matches so far.
Mbappe made his Champions League debut with AS Monaco in the 2016-17 season. He scored six goals in nine games that season as Monaco made their way to the semi-finals. The following season, the 24-year-old joined PSG and has since emerged as their unchallenged talisman. In 52 Champions League games for PSG so far, Mbappe has bagged 34 goals and provided 26 assists.
#2 Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) – 53 goals
Bayern Munich legend Thomas Muller has scored an impressive 53 goals in 142 games in the UEFA Champions League, emerging as the tournament’s seventh-highest scorer on the all-time list.
Muller has only played for Bayern Munich in his senior career, emerging as one of their most influential players in history. Muller, who has also claimed 32 assists in the UEFA Champions League, has won the tournament twice. His first came in the 2012-13 season when Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund in the final. The second arrived seven years later in the 2019-20 season when PSG fell short in the final. Muller’s best-ever campaign in the UEFA Champions League arrived in the 2015-16 season, during which he scored eight times and claimed three assists.
#1 Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) – 91 goals
Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski tops the list by a landslide, having netted an impressive 91 times in 111 UEFA Champions League appearances. The Pole is the third-leading scorer in the competition’s history.
Lewandowski has represented three teams in the tournament so far. He spent three seasons at Borussia Dortmund between 2011 and 2014, scoring 17 times and providing seven assists in 28 games. The center-forward spent the next eight seasons at Bayern Munich, recording 69 goals and 18 assists in 78 appearances for them, winning the trophy in the 2019-20 season. Last summer, he moved to Barcelona and scored five times in as many games in his debut campaign.
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