The best scorers in the history of the Champions League are the legendary players who left a huge mark in the development of their clubs and European football in general. Some of them are still playing, and many have already completed their careers.
Scorers among current players
As of May 4, 2016 (before the Champions League final 2015/2016), the leader of the Real Madrid list is Cristiano Ronaldo, leader of Real Madrid. He scored 93 goals (30 of them won) in 126 games. This season he will have the opportunity to improve the indicator, because on May 28, 2016 Real Madrid will play in the Champions League final with Atletico. In second place is the Catalan Lionel Messi. This player, since 2004, played 106 matches in the Champions League and scored 83 goals. 23 of his productive blows brought “Barcelona” victory. Persecutors from active players scored much fewer goals, so no one will be able to improve the results of these players in the coming decades. For example, PSG leader Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored 48 goals in 119 matches. The average performance of Ibrahimovic is an average of 0.4 goals per game. Messi played 7 games less than Zlatan, but his result is better because he scores 0.783 goals per match. It is also worth noting the performance of Karim Benzema (46 goals), Thomas Muller (36 goals), Wayne Rooney (30 goals). Other active players scored much less goals.
Veteran scorers
Many of the top scorers in the history of the Champions League have already completed their careers. The players left pleasant memories about themselves. For example, fans remember the beautiful matches of the Catalan “Barcelona”, when the Ronaldinho feints did not give the rivals defenders calm throughout the match.
The best of the veterans in the list of scorers at the moment is Raul Gonzalez Blanco. The legendary Spaniard spent 66 of 71 goals in Champions League as part of Real Madrid, scoring the remaining 5 for Schalke. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored 56 goals, having spent only 73 matches in the Champions League. In fifth place in the list of scorers striker “Monaco”, London “Arsenal” and “Barcelona” Thierry Henry. In 112 matches, he scored 58 goals. He played in Champions League for 15 seasons, and the first goal in the “Monaco” scored October 1, 1997. More than 30 goals were scored against League Champions rivals: Andrey Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi, Didier Drogba, Alessandro del Piero, Fernando Morientes, Samuel Eto'o, Kaka.
Goals of Andrey Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko is currently in the list of the “Top scorers in the entire history of the Champions League” sixth. Only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Karim Benzema can move him from this position. In 100 Champions League matches, Shevchenko signed for rivals 48 times. Andrey scored 15 goals for Dynamo Kyiv, 29 for Milan and 4 goals for Chelsea London. Probably few people remember what event took place on December 7, 1994. That day, Kiev “Dynamo” at the Republican stadium hosted “Bavaria” and lost 1: 4. Then, probably, none of the spectators thought that he saw the first European goal of the future legend of world football. He completed performances in Champions League Shevchenko in 2010.
Who did Andrei Shevchenko score in?
As we have already said, Andrei scored the first goal against Bayern Munich. Until September 1997, he did not score in the Champions League, because during this period Dynamo had very few matches in the tournament. In the 1997/1998 season, the striker scored against PSV, Newcastle, Barcelona (three times). The Catalan gate in those years was defended by the legendary Vitor Bahia. In the 1998/1999 season, he scored even more goals. His blows affected: “Lance” (twice), London “Arsenal”, “Real” (three times). In 1/2 Champions League in a match against Bayern, Shevchenko twice struck the legendary Oliver Kahn.
If we talk about the Milan period of his career, then Shevchenko scored 29 goals. Goalkeepers Galatasaray, Besiktas, Leeds, Deportivo, Lance, Ajax, Inter, Sparta, Celtic, Barcelona, PSV, Fenerbahce, Schalke 04 "," Bavaria "," Lyon "(many of them more than once) took the balls out of the net of their goal after strikes by Andrey Shevchenko. By the way, at the gates of some teams, he scored as part of Dynamo and Milan. We are talking about Lance, PSV, Barcelona, Bavaria. For “Chelsea” Shevchenko was noted in the grid “Levski”, “Port”, “Valencia” and “Rosenborg”.
Rivaldo is a soccer player from God
Brazilian striker Rivaldo was born on April 19, 1972. He played for the Brazilian “Palmeiras”, “Barcelona”, “Milan”, the Piraeus “Olympiakos”, the Uzbek “Bunyodkor”. Now runs one of the small Brazilian football clubs. In 1999 he received the Golden Ball as the best football player in Europe.
In the Champions League, he played 73 games in total, 66 of them in the main team. Replaced only 7 times. He was replaced only 13 times. Now let's break down the teams for which Rivaldo scored in the Champions League. Most matches (43) Rivaldo spent in the “Barcelona”. For this team, the footballer scored 22 goals. Rivaldo's technique, scoring flair and Ronaldinho's feints often posed unsolvable tasks for rivals.
Roy Macaay
This Dutch soccer player has never played in the Dutch clubs in the Champions League matches. Probably the only serious team in the homeland that Mackay played for was Vitesse. Roy played for this club from 1993 to 1997. And the first club for him was an amateur team from the city of Nijmegen, to which the Macaya family moved in 1988. The team now plays in the fourth Dutch division and it is called "Blau Wit". According to the new rules of football transfers, the club that raised the player receives part of the player’s transfer amount. When Macaai transferred from Deportivo to Bavaria, the Blau-Wit club received 141 thousand euros. Such a parish was absolutely unexpected for the club management, but was spent rationally.
By the way, in his Champions League matches, Roy Macai scored 29 goals in his fairly long football career (17 as part of Deportivo (La Coruña) and 12 as part of Bayern). Not a bad result.
The top scorers in the history of the Champions League are those players who demonstrate the best football of their time.