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Top Ten UEFA Champions League Scorers of All-Time

It’s that time of year again. Winter is in his final days (at least that’s what the calendar says), meaning the Champions League knockout stages are here. Starting today, with Barcelona, Leverkusen, Lyon and APOEL opening things up, we’re here with an updated version of our list – the Top ten scorers in the history of the Champions League (since 1992), from Real Madrid’s scoring machine Cristiano Ronaldo, to the man who breathes and bleeds Real Madrid but plays for Schalke, Raul.

Number 10 (tied) – Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 43 Goals

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Number 10 (tied) – Karim Benzema – 43 Goals

Image: Source
Image: Source

Number 8  – Didier Drogba – 44 Goals

Didier Drogba

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He certainly isn’t the most popular player in the world among players, fans and referees, but Drogba, if you look past the dirty elbows and antics and diving and complaining, is a fantastic player and scorer, with 32 goals in 63 champions league matches. Despite having quite a few memorable goals and reaching the finals of the competition with Chelsea in 2008, Drogba’s most memorable moment in the competition is probably his rant against Tom Henning Ovrebo after Chelsea’s controversial exit against Barcelona two seasons ago in the Champions League semi final.

Number 7  – Filippo Inzaghi – 46 Goals

Filippo Inzaghi

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The 37 year old Italian is continuing his slow decay before he hangs ’em up, hardly playing for league leaders AC Milan. In the Champions League he has two goals, both in the same match, the 2-2 draw with Real Madrid.He’s had bad seasons before, but the man who seems to be constantly offside has made remarkable comeback seasons before, so never count him out. He is, after all, he is the all-time leading scorer in European competitions (70 goals).

Number 6  – Andriy Shevchenko – 48 Goals

A rare smile for Sheva during his Chelsea days
A rare smile for Sheva during his Chelsea days
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It’s easy to forget the aging striker playing for Dynamo Kyiv was maybe the best in the world during the earlier parts of the 2000’s. It’s too bad the second part of the decade, which included two abysmal seasons with Chelsea and a failed return to Milan last year. Shevchenko made himself known after scoring a hat trick during Dynamo’s 4-0 win over Barcelona in Spain, later moving on to Milan , winning the Champions League trophy in 2003, scoring the final penalty in the shootout against Juventus. He also missed a penalty in the final two years later against Liverpool. He managed to score one goal in six group matches last season for Dynamo in the UCL, failing to qualify for the next round or the UEFA cup, finishing fourth. This year Dynamo didn’t make the champions league.

Number 5 – Thierry Henry – 50 Goals

Thierry Henry

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I always wonder about Henry. Maybe winning the champions league with Arsenal in 2006 would have cemented him as the best player of the 00’s. Maybe not. Henry got his in 2008-2009, but he wasn’t the same player he was with Arsenal, who pretty much carried Wenger’s team on his back to the 2006 final and two league titles in 2002 and 2004 (going undefeated that season). He wasn’t alone, but he was by far the best player in England during those years.Last season so wasn’t the most memorable for Henry, highlighted by his controversial goal against Ireland in the World Cup qualifying playoff, which brought on a global media assault and demands for FIFA to introduce replays into the game. His departure from the second Arsenal stint will be a Champions League match.

Number 4 – Ruud van Nistelrooy – 56 Goals

Ruud van Nistelrooy

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Another player who’s not having a great time this year. Well, it’s been actually two years for Ruud, who is only second on this list but his 56 goals in 73 UCL matches is the best goal ratio on this list. He’s been the top Champions League scorer three times and he has been the top scorer in three different domestic leagues in Europe. There were rumors about him returning to Real Madrid previously, but he stayed at Hamburg, where he’s slowly pacing towards retirement, scoring only seven goals. His Malaga numbers (2 goals in 17 matches) haven’t been much better.

Number 3 – Raul – 71 Goals

Raul

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So many records, so many goals. He’s been playing in the UEFA champions league since 1996, scoring 66 goals in 126 matches, including 2 this season. He is Real’s all-time leading goalscorer (226 league goals, 321 in all competitions) and leads the team in appearances. He leads the national team with 44 goals despite not playing since the Euro 2008 qualifiers. He’s won the Champions League three times (1998, 2000, 2002) scoring in the final in both 2000 and 2002. Greatest Real Madrid player ever? Best Spanish player ever? Time will tell, but he’s one of the few living legends actually still playing. Not for Madrid anymore, but he’s doing OK with Schalke.

Number 2 – Lionel Messi – 77 Goals

Image: Source
Image: Source

Was the first to break Raul’s record, but hasn’t been keeping up with Ronaldo’s insane scoring rate of the last few years.

Number 1  – Cristiano Ronaldo – 82 Goals

Cristiano Ronaldo
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At his current pace, it’s going to be impossible catching up with him in the future.

Peter Fisher

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90 responses to “Top Ten UEFA Champions League Scorers of All-Time”

    • Cristiano Ronaldo has six goals this season in the champions league (leads the competition) and 22 in the UCL career-wise.

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  4. why is eto’o not in the top 10. i strongly belief that there is a mistake because he must lead. he is the best striker in the world. he has got all the titles may the almighty God bless him.

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  6. I equally believe that samuel eto outh to have been in the list of top goal scorer because he is a very talented player not only in Africa but also in the world

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  7. Now that Etoo Fils is a very good striker ,his name surpose to apear in the top UEFA top ten goal scorer but he does not apear i think this is not wolthy of a player of hiss category so those who published this infomation where having some reasoning faculty problem

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  8. You guy are just racisms and will do nothing to see that Eto’s fils is one of the favorites in the ballon d’or nominees.it is a shame to see that he is not one of the favorite.Shame on you.hat did rooney did that he is one of the favorite.Messi did not even score in the 2009 world cup and many.funny you know.Eto’s ,name is surpose to apear in the top UEFA top ten goal scorer but shame on you.funny.he is presently the highest goal scorer and also in serie A.

    Reply

  11. The Champions League Returns…

    If it seems like months since you’ve seen a Champions League match, that’s probably because it has. But the wait ends this week and next with the first-leg Round of 16 matches, and the good news is that there are a couple of mouth-watering matchups……

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  12. Raul strikes to give Schalke a draw…

    Schalke and Valencia players and team members greet each other at the end of their Champions League soccer match at Mestalla stadium in Valencia. ……

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  14. Eto’o have scored 32 goals in ucl & also score in 2 difrent champions league finals, wining cl back to back.

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  15. This is a great list of highly rated goalscorers in europe but i beleive the names are going to fade with time and there are younger player’s that are coming to take their rightful positions on this same list but all-the-same tumbs-up to the top ten heavyweight of all time.

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  17. I believe that RAUL is extralodinary player,despite
    scoring almost 370 scores for real.Schalke04 need to
    made the spanish monk their new captain, because he
    has done more than what he was brought for.

    Reply

  20. Messi is just 23 and has already score 33 goal,what makes u think is not going to beat that record

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  24. i respect players like raul dat is on d list.but i aslo know dat my greatest player of all time and also my world best lionel messi will beat dat record.

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  25. Please editor or whom ever is responsible, I think Samuel Eto should be on the list, do your work well. Raul will score more goals.

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  28. RAUL is the legend of this time.No human being can compete or take it away from him.certently not the likes of ETO MESSI AND TORRES. INZAGHI AND VANNISTELROOY WILL SAY BETTER

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    • Messi is at 34 goals – He’s good for at least 7-8 goals in each tournament. He only needs about 5 seasons to catch Raul. And who said he’s not good for 15 more years of Champions League playing if he stays fit?

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  34. Messi is just 23 and has scored 34goals and i think d two things that will stop messi is if he stop playing 4 barca or injury and @ d same time he cannot be fit for 5-years consistently.

    Reply

  35. cristiano ronaldo is the only player who has killed my instinct. he is a wonderful striker but i wonder why lionel messi is inevitable at most times.that boy is a genius in his field of play but i can’t buy that for my C.R.7

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  36. Messi is no doubt the best player in the world with the cannibas of players like xavi,inesta and others but if ronaldo can play with this guys i think he will do better becos real madrid has built the team on him and he is still competing with messi imagine.

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  37. Lionel messi is still d number one player as at now there is no other opponent that will compete with him

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  42. E’to wining the UCL two consective times and being out of the top 10
    really is not fair & shows some racism

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  44. salam guys,Messi is the best player of the planet,he can break the ucl’s record.he is just 23 ,he can break the record within 4/5 years.and yes you are right eto’o must be in top ten,and he should replace with cr.ronaldo.

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  57. messi is best player in world and am very thing messi breal all this player record and he more five hundred goal in cl

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    • @Sani 500 Goals, huh? He needs about 470 more in, lets say he keeps on playing 10 more season without getting injured at the same level? Sounds about right…

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  65. Lionel messi being the best player in the world will normally so past the 71 goals of mighty Raul Gonzales.taking his present form and considering his 24yrs of age.He still have many more years in the football world.

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  75. […] Top Ten UEFA Champions League Scorers of All-Time | SportigeFeb 14, 2012 … Del Piero himself isn’t getting too many minutes any more and has only four …. Raul is the best,,, messi can not pass raul bcs he is still playing … […]

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