Most goals in Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi headline legendary list

The UEFA Champions League is considered to be the biggest European football cup competition.

Since its inception in 1955 and later rebranded in 1992, the UEFA Champions League is the most-watched football club competition in the world and the third most-watched football competition overall, only behind the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup.

Football players dream of playing for their respective clubs in the Champions League and also aspire to score goals in the prestigious football club competition.

Over the years, fans have witnessed some of the most memorable goals scored by Europe’s top football stars.

Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the Champions League’s all-time top-scorer. The former Manchester United talisman has netted 141 goals, which is a record for the most goals in Champions League history.

Ronaldo’s long-time rival Lionel Messi features second on the Champions League all-time top-scorers list with 129 goals.

The likes of Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Raul Gonzalez, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andriy Shevchenko, Thierry Henry, Filippo Inzaghi and Thomas Muller are the other players to score 50 goals in Champions League history.

Interestingly, Ruud van Nistelrooy was the fastest to 50 Champions League goals while Lionel Messi was the quickest to 100 goals in the competition.

Get most goals in Champions League: Know the all-time top-scorers in UCL history.

Most goals in Champions League: Know the all-time top-scorers in UCL history

Cristiano Ronaldo | 141 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for the most goals in Champions League history. The Portuguese star is the all-time top-scorer in UCL history with 141 goals in 187 matches. Ronaldo scored his first Champions League goal while playing for Manchester United against AS Roma in the second leg of their quarter-final clash at Old Trafford in April 2007. Since then, Ronaldo netted 22 UCL goals for Manchester United, an astonishing 105 goals for Real Madrid and registered 14 strikes for Juventus in the competition. 

Lionel Messi | 129 goals

Lionel Messi features second on the list for the most goals in Champions League history. The former FC Barcelona talisman netted his first Champions League goal against Panathinaikos in their 5-0 win at Camp Nou in November 2005. The Argentine football team captain scored 120 goals in 149 appearances for his boyhood club Barcelona in the UCL, which is a record for the most Champions League goals for one club with Ronaldo second on the list with 105 goals for his former club Real Madrid. Messi later scored nine UCL goals for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Robert Lewandowski | 96 goals

Polish striker Robert Lewandowski is third on the list for the most goals in Champions League history. While playing for his former Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, Lewandowski scored his first Champions League goal in a 1-3 away defeat to Olympiacos in October 2011. Since then, Lewandowski netted 17 goals for Dortmund in the Champions League, scored 69 goals for Bayern Munich in the UCL and has recorded 16 strikes for Barcelona in the competition so far.

Photo credit: Imago