Ranking the 5 highest-scoring defenders in UEFA Champions League history

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Gerard Pique (left) exults after a landmark strike on Wednesday.
Gerard Pique (left) exults after a landmark strike on Wednesday.

#3 Sergio Ramos - 15 goals

Sergio Ramos is a four-time Champions League winner.
Sergio Ramos is a four-time Champions League winner.

Sergio Ramos is one of the most decorated defenders in UEFA Champions League history.

The four-time winner is one of only four defenders to have scored at least 15 goals in the competition. Two of the centre-back's strikes came in finals (2014 and 2016), making Ramos one of a handful of players to do so.

Ramos, who is now at PSG, has appeared in nearly 130 games in the Champions League, all for Real Madrid. He has scored at least once in 11 of 16 editions of the competition.

His most prolific campaign in the Champions League was in 2013-14. Ramos scored three times, including one in the final to force extra time, in Madrid's historic La Decima triumph that season.


#2 Roberto Carlos - 16 goals

Roberto Carlos was the first defender to score 16 Champions League goals.
Roberto Carlos was the first defender to score 16 Champions League goals.

Roberto Carlos is one of the finest goalscoring left-backs to have graced the Champions League. In fact, he is one of the best goalscoring full-backs in the history of the beautiful game.

Carlos played over 100 games in the Champions League. He made most of his appearances and scored all his goals in the competition during a decade-long stint at Real Madrid.

The three-time Champions League winner played a key role in Real Madrid winning three titles in five years in the late 90s and early 2000s. Carlos scored eight goals across these three victorious campaigns.

The 48-year-old twice scored four goals in a Champions League season, one of them coming in Real Madrid's victorious 1999-00 campaign.


#1 Gerard Pique - 16 goals

Gerard Pique has a decorated Champions League resume.
Gerard Pique has a decorated Champions League resume.

Gerard Pique has a decorated UEFA Champions League resume. The 34-year-old has scored 16 goals in the competition, netting all but two of his strikes in the competition for Barcelona.

Pique is one of a handful of players to have won the Champions League with two different clubs in as many seasons. The four-time winner, who plies his trade as a centre-back, has scored at least once in 12 of his 16 campaigns in the premier club competition.

With his latest strike in the competition - a winner against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday - Pique became the joint-most prolific goalscoring defender in Champions League history.

His latest strike in the competition also made Pique the oldest Barcelona player to score in the Champions League. Incredibly, Barcelona have won all 14 games where Pique found the back of the net in.

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Edited by Arjun Panchadar