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The 2010s saw Spanish teams and players establish themselves a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League. Real Madrid and Barcelona combined to win six of ten finals between 2010 and 2020, while Atletico Madrid finished runners-up twice.
Although English and German teams have broken La Liga's reign in recent seasons, Spanish football continues to wield an enormous amount of influence. Last year's finalists featured Spaniards in key roles, with Pep Guardiola serving as Manchester City's head coach and Cesar Azpilicueta captaining Chelsea.
Spanish strikers have historically performed well in the Champions League
It wouldn't be unfair to say that Spanish football is currently suffering from a dearth of world-class goalscorers.
The national team's philosophy is based on retaining possession, moving the ball around to stretch opposition defences and maintaining patience. That, in turn, has limited opportunities for moments of individual brilliance that were the trademark of the likes of David Villa and Fernando Torres.
Nonetheless, the Champions League scoring charts do have a strong Spanish presence. On that note, here's a look at five of the most prolific goalscorers from the European powerhouse:
#5 Alvaro Morata (23 goals in 65 appearances)
Alvaro Morata's inconsistency and tendency to embark on lean patches and dry spells is frustrating. Although he probably doesn't score as much as he should, Morata is currently Spain's most high-profile striker.
The Spaniard has won the Champions League twice with Real Madrid. He has 65 appearances in the competition with Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Juventus, along with Los Blancos.
Morata continues to attract interest from Europe's elite clubs, although his record of 55 goals and 36 assists in 170 games for Juventus is slightly underwhelming. His tally of six UCL goals in eight games in the 2020-21 season remains his best showing in the competition, and he could add to that this season.
#4 Francisco Gento (30 goals in 89 appearances)
The late Francisco 'Paco' Gento was a Real Madrid legend who won the Champions League six times when it was known as the European Cup.
Operating on the left flank, the winger scored 159 goals in 523 appearances for the Spanish giants. He was part of some of the greatest Los Blancos squads of all time. Gento is the only player in the club's glittering history to have won six European Cups.
His most valuable trait was his consistency and work rate. Although he never scored more than five goals in a single European Cup campaign, the Spaniard failed to find the net in just two of the 15 editions he participated in.
He passed away in January 2022 at the age of 88.
#3 Fernando Morientes (33 goals in 93 appearances)
A three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, Fernando Morientes had an interesting career. He represented the likes of Liverpool, Valencia and Monaco. After scoring 100 goals in 272 appearances for Los Blancos, the striker failed to replicate that form at other clubs, though.
He did, though, score 27 goals in 47 games for Spain, and is sixth on their scoring charts.
Morientes scored six goals and provided four assists in Real Madrid's victorious Champions League campaign in 1999-00. His best display in the competition came in 2003-04 with Monaco, when he scored nine times in 12 games.
#2 Alfredo Di Stefano (49 goals in 58 appearances)
One of the best centre-forwards of all time, as well as one of Real Madrid's greatest players, the late Alfredo Di Stefano was an unstoppable attacking force.
Born in Argentina, the striker adopted Spain as his home. He scored 23 times in 31 games for the European nation despite having played six times for his country of birth.
Di Stefano was arguably the most important part of Real Madrid's golden era in the 1950s and 1960s. He won five European Cups with Los Blancos, scoring 49 times in 58 games. His goal-to-game ratio of 0.84 is the best in the competition's history, among players with 45 or more goals, just ahead of Lionel Messi (0.81). He is ninth in the UCL's all-time scoring charts.
He netted 267 times for Real Madrid in nearly 350 games. Di Stefano passed away in 2014 at the age of 88.
#1 Raul (71 goals in 142 appearances)
Real Madrid legend Raul is the fifth-highest scorer in Champions League history, with 71 goals in 142 games, with 66 of those strikes coming for Los Blancos. The Spanish striker played in 14 European seasons during his time with Real Madrid, winning three Champions League titles.
Raul was the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history (324 goals, 116 assists in 741 games) when he departed the club in 2010. His record would later be broken by Cristiano Ronaldo. With 44 goals in 102 games for Spain, he is also second in their scoring charts, behind David Villa (63).
