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UEFA Champions League is the elite European club competition that brings some of the best teams across the continent face to face for a shot at lifting the glistening Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens trophy.
Over the years, a host of legendary players have featured in this prestigious tournament, including world-class strikers like Ronaldo Nazario, Rivaldo, Raul, and now Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the top-two goalscorers in UCL history.
The lion's share of goals get scored in the first six matchdays of the competition, in 2019-20 season clubs set a new goalscoring record, as a whopping 308 goals were scored. So, did you know who among the top-level strikers is the top scorer in group stage fixtures?
Well, if you don't, no need to fret, as in this article we reveal the top 5 all-time highest goalscorers in the history of UEFA Champions League.
Stats Courtesy: UEFA.com
5. Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Hamburg): 39
We kick off our list with Dutch legend Ruud van Nistelrooy in the fifth spot. He is the only retired player to feature in the list and looks set to retain his spot on this list at least for another year, as the closest an active player comes to his tally is Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, who has 30 goals to his name.
Nistelrooy was one of the best strikers of his generation and proved his mettle as a solid No.9 for all of the clubs that he played for, finding the back of the net consistently. He was especially prolific for Manchester United, where he scored 150 goals in just 218 games.
He is currently ranked sixth in the all-time top goalscorer's list in UCL with 56 goals to his name, notching 39 of those in the group stage itself. Till date, his goals per game ratio at this stage of 0.76 remains the second-best among strikers, only behind Lionel Messi.
As things stand he's one of the only seven players with 50 or more goals at the continental event and also holds the record for being the fastest player to reach a half-century of goals, scoring the memorable goal in his 62nd game. Messi achieved the feat in 66 games, while Ronaldo needed a surprising 91 appearances to do the same.
It is interesting to note that though he finished as top scorer in three Champions League campaigns, he remains one of the greatest players ever to not have lifted the prestigious trophy. With 56 Champions League goals to his name, Van Nistelrooy is the highest-scoring player never to have won the tournament.
Also check out: Champions League Schedule Champions League table Champions league top scorers
4. Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich): 44
When the season started, Bayern Munich marksman Robert Lewandowski was two spots off the top five all-time group stage goalscorers. But on the back of his incredible run of form this season, he made the net bulge on 10 occasions in just five matches. His goalscoring exploits in the past three months saw him leapfrog to the fourth position in the list. Los Blancos legend Raúl González made way for the Pole in the top five.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker struck on the first five matchdays, and his quadruple against Crvena Zvezda came in just 15 minutes, which in itself is a competition record. With 63 goals, he is fifth in the competition's all-time rankings and topped the group-stage table for the second year running.
He is leading the race to become the top scorer in Europe for club and country in 2019, with 51 goals from 55 games, as he sits above the likes of Lionel Messi, Raheem Sterling and Kylian Mbappé with just a few games to go.
He missed out on Cristiano Ronaldo's record of most goals at the group stage by the slimmest of the margins, with his 10 goals this term, just falling one short of the Portuguese's 11-goal haul from the 2015-16 campaign.
Also Read: Robert Lewandowski's five insane goal-scoring feats!
3. Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid): 47
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema takes the third place in this illustrious list, following a rich vein of form in front of the goal for the Madrid club this season. Benzema has been at the Santiago Bernabéu for nine years now and has been a reliable source of goals for Los Blancos, scoring 152 league goals for them so far.
Though he was also part of the record-breaking Real Madrid side that has emerged as champions on four of the last six Champions League campaigns, most of the limelight was hogged by his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
He had been under the Portuguese talisman's shadow for far too long. In the absence of his former teammate, he has come of his own.
Not only is he the third-highest goalscorer at the group stage in UCL, but in the all-time rankings, surprisingly he has climbed up to fourth, with 64 goals under his belt. What is more interesting is that he has scored a bulk of these goals in the group stage. With 47 goals to his name, he has the best games to goals ratio of any player in the list.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus): 63
It is hard to turn a blind eye to Cristiano Ronaldo when talking about the UEFA Champions League. He is at the top of almost every single goalscoring metric of the competition and has numerous records to his name, including the title of being the undisputed top scorer since 2015.
He achieved double-digit hauls in seven consecutive seasons for Real Madrid, in which he also set the record for most goals in a single campaign, producing a return of 17 goals, as Los Blancos went on to claim a historic tenth UCL title or La Decima in 2014.
Though he is the all-time top scorer in the competition's history he misses out on the distinction of being the top-scorer at this phase to his eternal rival Messi. On the bright side, he comfortably leads the way in goalscoring in the knockout stages.
Though he might be on top of every UCL metric, it seems in this list he has to contend with being the second-best only, unless he puts on a ridiculous show with Juventus in the coming seasons.
Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo top five Guinness World Records
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 68
It is quite obvious that the player occupying top spot in our list is none other than Lionel Messi. He had a memorable 2018-19 campaign with Barcelona, as he went on to score 12 goals, winning the top goalscorer award.
As it has been for the majority of the individual goal-scoring honours in the last 15 years, the title of the top group stage goalscorer has changed hands between the duo of Messi and Ronaldo.
Currently, they are separated by a slim margin of five goals and the Argentine only overtook the Juventus star last season, scoring six to take his tally to 66 and has since then added two more to his tally this season.
Messi was the first one to overtake erstwhile leader Raul's record of 71 goals in 2014. But a purple patch in the 2015-16 season saw Ronaldo hitting a record 17 goals that campaign, opening up a sizeable gap between himself and the Barcelona star.
Messi equalled his long-time rival's record of scoring 10 or more goals at the group stage in the 2016-17, as he reached double figures for goals that season. Will the left-footed wizard be able to dethrone Ronaldo from the all-time goalscoring charts? Only time will tell.
Also Read: Five Guinness World Records set by Lionel Messi
