3) Dennis Bergkamp
One of the finest strikers to have come from the goldmine of talent that is the Netherlands, he too has never won the Champions League. Having played for Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal, his biggest achievement in European competition was winning the UEFA Cup twice (with Ajax and Inter).
In 11 seasons with Arsenal, he has won the Premier League thrice and the FA Cup four times. He was also an integral part of the Invincibles team that went an entire season unbeaten (2003/04) in a run that eventually stretched to 49 games.
But when it came to the Champions League, the Gunners were never a real threat and always fell in the knockout stages of the competition. The closest he came to winning it was in 2006 when they lost in the final to Barcelona. But he was on the bench in what was to be his final game for Arsenal.
A Champions League trophy would have been the best way to sign off for the Non-Flying Dutchman.
4) Eric Cantona
The driving force of Manchester United in the 1990s, Eric Cantona was the forward you did not mess with and a goalscorer you could not let out of your sight. When the Premier League was born in 1992, he was instrumental in Manchester United winning it in four of the first five seasons.
The Frenchman, who made the number 7 shirt and the captain’s armband his own was truly a cult figure in England; in spite of bans, suspensions and an arrest. But when it came to the Champions League, he was never able to establish himself or the club as an elite power.
The closest he ever got was when he led Manchester United to the semi-finals in 1997, where they lost to Borussia Dortmund (who would go on to win the trophy) in both legs. He’s received a number of honours since then, the biggest of which was being inducted into the inaugural English Football Hall of Fame (the first player from outside the United Kingdom) in 2002.
But a Champions League trophy was one trophy he would have loved to lift.
