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UEFA Champions League has been graced by some of the greatest players of every generation and one group of players that has always managed to stand out among their peers has been the forwards, namely the No.9s, No.10s and No.7s.
The strikers are the players who end up scoring most of the goals in the competition and thus end up taking away most of the glory. Though there are only two players who have reached a century of goals in the competition till date the top 10 list of top scorers is a star-studded one.
The list of top 10 active goalscorers in the Champions League unsurprisingly consists of some of the top strikers of our generation.
With that being said let's now take a look at the:
Top 10 active goalscorers in the Champions League currently
(All stats correct as of 26 October 2020)
#10 Luis Suarez - Atletico Madrid
Champions League goals - 30 goals
Luis Suarez has established himself as one of the most lethal strikers of his generation thanks to his fruitful six-year association with Barcelona, with whom he won the second European Golden Shoe of his career in the 2015-16 season.
With 198 goals for Blaugrana, he is currently third in their all-time top scorer's list and is also the top scorer for the Uruguay National Team with 62 goals across all competitions.
His appearances in the Champions League were limited during his stints with Ajax and Liverpool, as a result, most of his goals in the competition came during his six-year stint with Barcelona. Despite being a great No.9 he has not found the back of the net in the Champions League as much as he would have wanted and his current tally stands at 30.
#9 Edinson Cavani - Manchester United
Champions League goals - 35
Suarez's compatriot Edinson Cavani joins him in this list, taking the ninth spot among active goalscorers in the Champions League. Like Suarez, Cavani too had enjoyed a lot of success playing for clubs across Europe and had found some great goalscoring form with his former employers, Paris Saint-Germain.
El Matador, as he is often referred to due to his physqiue and composure in front of the goal, has won the top scorer's awards in the Serie A during his time with Napoli, where he scored 104 goals in 138 appearances and also with Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 200 goals in 301 games.
His time in the Champions League has been limited due to his spells with Palermo and Napoli but still finds himself in the all-time top scorer's list in the 19th position with 35 goals. He will be looking to add to his tally with his new club, Manchester United.
#8 Neymar - Paris Saint-Germain
Champions League goals - 35
2014-15 Treble winner with Barcelona, Neymar joins his former Paris Saint-Germain partner, Cavani in this list having scored 35 goals in seven Champions League campaigns. The 28-year-old ranks among one of the world's best-paid athletes and has a massive social media presence.
He recently matched Ronaldo Nazario for goals scored with the Brazil national team as he scored his 62nd goal for the Selecao in their FIFA World Cup qualification match against Peru.
The player has enjoyed a great goal-scoring return with the Parisiens since 2017. Injuries have kept him from making the most of his talents and has seen him miss key Champions League fixtures in 2018 and 2019. He helped PSG reach their first Champions League final last season but could not inspire them against Bayern Munich, who went on to win the treble.
Also See: Top 10 football players with the most fans in the world
#7 Sergio Aguero - Manchester City
Champions League goals - 46
The first Premier League player in this list is Manchester City's Sergio Aguero. The Argentina striker has been prolific in front of the goal for the Cityzens, scoring 255 goals for them in 372 appearances. He has been dealing with recurring injury problems recently and that might limit his involvement in City's upcoming fixtures, including the Champions League, in which he has scored 46 goals.
Despite enjoying a lot of success with City in England he has not been able to win any major silverware in continental competitions. The same goes for his spell with the Argentina National Team.
The 2014-15 Premier League Golden Boot winner is the fourth-highest goalscorer in Premier League history, and the highest non-English scorer in the history of the competition, with 180 goals in the division. He also holds the record for most hat-tricks in the Premier League, with twelve.
#6 Thomas Muller - Bayern Munich
Champions League goals - 46
Thomas Muller has often been described as the complete attacking player in the world due to his great positional awareness, ability to create and score goals. Despite not being renowned for his goal-scoring threat the Germany international has won the prestigious FIFA World Cup Golden Boot award in 2010 and has racked up over 200 goals with Bayern Munich.
The player played a pivotal role in Bayern's treble last season and ended the Bundesliga campaign with a record 21 assists. He registered his 46th goal in the Champions League against Barcelona in the 8-2 thrashing in the quarter-final.
He is currently the most decorated German player in history and has won 27 titles with his boyhood club.
#5 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - AC Milan
Champions League goals - 49
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has enjoyed a very successful career which has taken him to seven different leagues, in seven different nations and he has scored a lot of goals wherever he has played.
However, the Swedish international remains without the most coveted club trophy of all – The UEFA Champions League
He was named as the greatest player in the history of the competition to have never lifted the title by UEFA in 2015 and only Gianluigi Buffon, with 131 appearances, has played more games than him without tasting success in the competition.
He did manage to win the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017. This season he will play in the Europa League with AC Milan and hence won't be able to add to his tally of 49 Champions League goals.
He could've become the 10th player to reach a half-century of goals in the competition but as of now sits level with the great Alfredo Di Stéfano at 49 goals.
#4 Karim Benzema - Real Madrid
Champions League goals - 65
Karim Benzema is one of the most successful players in the history of the UEFA Champions League and when it comes to strikers no player has won more titles than he has. He has been a constant source of goals for Real Madrid over the last decade and despite not winning a lot of top-scorers awards has notched up a lot of goals for Los Blancos.
With 65 goals he is fifth in the all-time rankings and just six goals off Real Madrid legend Raul's tally of 71 goals, which he would be looking forward to surpassing by the end of the season.
His goal scoring achievements might have been limited due to his partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo at the club for over nine seasons, but he proved his worth to the club last season as he scored 27 goals across all competitions and helped them lift the La Liga trophy.
Also See: 6 managers with the most Champions League trophies
#3 Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich
Champions League goals - 68 goals
Over the last few seasons, Robert Lewandowski has been one of the most consistent performers in Europe and hit his peak in the 2019-20 season, when he crossed the 50-goal barrier for the second season running.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker found the back of the net 55 times across all competitions for Bayern Munich last season and won a plethora of individual awards, starting with a fifth kicker Torjägerkanone and the European Golden Shoe. He was also the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 15 goals last season, as the Bavarians went on to lift the title.
He was crowned the UEFA Men's Player of the Season for 2019-20 and has continued his red-hot form from the last term into the 2020-21 campaign as well and has already scored 10 goals in the Bundesliga in just five appearances.
In the Champions League, he has 68 goals as of now and will certainly move above Raul into the third spot in the all-time ranking before 2020 comes to an end.
#2 Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona
Champions League goals - 116
Lionel Messi is just one of the two players to have scored more than 100 goals in the Champions League and as things stand is the undisputed top scorer in the competition as far as the Group Stage fixtures are concerned, having scored 69 goals so far.
The Barcelona talisman is only behind his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time goal-scoring rankings with 116 goals coming from his 144 appearances in the elite European competition. Messi is one of the few footballers in history to have won the European treble twice but has been only able to inspire his club to the semi-final once in the last five campaigns.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is set to be with Blaugrana for the 2020-21 season and can add to his tally as Barcelona chase their first European silverware since 2015.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo - Juventus
Champions League goals - 131 goals
When it comes to the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo is the undisputed king. The Portuguese forwards has numerous records to his name in the competition and one of the most outstanding of those is that of the all-time top scorer in the history of the tournament.
He has scored 131 goals in the competition for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, with more than half of those coming in the decisive knockout phase. He still holds the record for most goals in a season, having found the back of the net 17 times in the 2013-14 campaign for Real Madrid.
The player has lifted the coveted trophy on five occasions and if he can win it again this season, he can equal Clarance Seedorf's record of winning it with three different teams.
Also See: 5 most supported football clubs in the world
