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UEFA Champions League is the biggest competition in European club-level football. Some of the biggest names across the continent go head-to-head for the coveted European Champion Clubs' Cup trophy every season.
While the title is up for grabs for all teams registered with UEFA, teams from Europe's top five leagues have dominated the competition. Since Jose Mourinho's Porto in the 2003-04 season, no team outside of Europe's top five leagues has managed to emerge as the winners.
While winning the competition proves to be a mammoth task, making it into the knockout stage is comparatively easy for some of the big clubs.
Champions League round of 16 has seen some great matchups in recent years
Round of 16 is the first round of knockout stage fixtures in the Champions League, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the two-legged fixtures. Two title favorites inevitably end up squaring off at this stage of the competition.
The standout fixture in the round of 16 is the high-profile clash between Real Madrid and PSG this season. The games between Inter Milan and Liverpool; Atletico Madrid and Manchester United should also make for interesting watches.
As the Champions League action returns in mid-February, here we take a look at the five players with the highest number of appearances round of 16 fixtures. (Appearances counting the two legs separately)
#5 Sergio Ramos - 25 appearances
Sergio Ramos is one of the most successful defenders in the history of the Champions League, winning it four times with Real Madrid. He left the Spanish giants last summer to join PSG, so it is almost poetic that his first appearance in the round of 16 of UCL is against his former club.
Recurring injuries have prevented him from performing to the best of his abilities with the Ligue 1 club. Nonetheless, one thing we can be sure to expect from him is his passion for the game.
He has never lost a final game in the competition. So if PSG win all their games in the knockout stage and keep him fit enough for the title-deciding game, they might finally win the elusive trophy, right? Well, Mauricio Pochettino wished it was this easy.
#4 Andres Iniesta - 25 appearances
Spanish clubs have dominated European football in recent history and they have been the most successful sides in the Champions League. They have won the competition 18 times and finished runners-up 11 times, more than teams from any other country.
So, spoiler alert, players representing La Liga clubs dominate our list. Barcelona icon Andres Iniesta lifted the continental trophy four times during his spell with his boyhood club. He played a key role in the treble-winning campaigns in 2008-09 and 2014-15.
The 37-year-old had vowed not to play against Barcelona and thus bid adieu to European football in 2018. He now plays in Japan with Vissel Kobe, featuring twice in the team of the season in the J-League.
#3 Iker Casillas - 27 appearances
Iker Casillas is a Champions League legend. Until the 2021-22 campaign, he had more appearances in the competition than any other player. While he could only win the competition twice, his longevity helped him become the goalkeeper with the most appearances in the competition.
He still holds the record for being the youngest goalkeeper to have won the competition (aged 19 years and 4 days in 2000). He has also managed to keep more clean sheets than any other player in the history of the competition (57, excluding two in the UEFA Super Cup).
He made his final appearance in the competition against Porto in the 2019-20 campaign.
#2 Lionel Messi - 32 appearances
Lionel Messi will be making his first appearance in the round of 16 fixtures as a PSG player in February. He featured for Barcelona at this stage of the competition every year since the 2005-06 campaign.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has won the competition four times with his last triumph coming in the 2014-15 campaign. He is the leading goalscorer in the group stage of the competition and is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time goalscoring charts.
His importance to Barcelona could be understood by the fact that while he will play in the round of 16 this season his former club were eliminated from the group stage.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo - 34 appearances
When it comes to the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo is the undisputed king. The 37-year-old forward has won the competition more times than anyone else (5) and is the leading all-time goalscorer.
He overtook his former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas in the all-time appearances charts this season and as of February has played 181 times in the competition.
He returned to Manchester United last summer, the club where he won his first Champions League title. He might hold the key for the club as they look to make it to the final for the first time since 2011.
United have been drawn against Atletico Madrid, one of the favorite opponents of Ronaldo in the competition. He has won six of the 10 games against Diego Simeone's men and scored seven goals. So, we might be able to see Ronaldo progressing through to the last eight this season.
