da esoccer bet： Few things in the world of football match the magic of the UEFA Champions League, and even fewer things deliver that magic like a Champions League goal.
da lvbet： Over the course of the competition’s 65-year history (it was the European Cup until 1992), the Champions League has featured the world’s finest scorers and served as a benchmark upon a which many have built their legendary football legacies.
On the competition’s scoring leaderboard you’ll find many of the names you’d expect and few others you may have forgotten about, and with the quarter-finals of this year’s tournament kicking off this week, several of the players on this list could find themselves edging ever nearer to the top.
Here are the top 20 goal scorers in the history of the UEFA Champions League…
20. Fernando Morientes – 33 goals
The Spanish forward scored Champions League goals for four different clubs over the course of his 17-year football career.
Starring for Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and Valencia, Morientes had a knack for finding the back of the net anytime he appeared in the Champions League, helping earn Real Madrid European titles on three occasions (1998, 2000, 2002).
The Spaniard scored 33 times in 93 Champions League appearances and remains among the top all-time scorers in the history of the competition.
19. Gerd Müller – 34 goals
Bayern Munich’s Muller-led side won three consecutive European Cup titles (1974-76) with the German-born centre-forward carrying much of the scoring burden himself.
As Munich’s all-time leading scorer, Muller averaged six goals in the competition during those title-winning years, while averaging a goal every 1.3 matches.
Overall, Muller would close his European Cup career with 34 goals.
18. Edinson Cavani – 34
PSG and their frontman were eliminated from last year’s competition earlier than they probably would have liked, but not before the Uruguayan forward could add another two goals to his growing Champions League tally.
Cavani has been a goal scoring force in 59 appearances in the competition with Napoli and now Les Parisiens, scoring a career-high eight goals during Paris’ run to the Round of 16 in 2016-17.
With 34 goals in the competition, Cavani ranks as the greatest Uruguayan scorer in Champions League history.
17. Ferenc Puskás – 36
The 1960 Ballon d’Or runner-up had a flair for the amazing inside the 18-yard box and showed it often in the European Cup.
Puskas’ deft scoring ability helped deliver Real Madrid three European trophies (1959, 1960, 1966) during his eight-season run with the club. He would later take Greek-side Panathinaikos to a runner-up finish in the competition as manager in 1971.
16. Sergio Agüero – 37 goals
Manchester City’s Argentinian attacker has done nothing but score since arriving at the club in 2011 and the Champions League has been no exception.
With five goals scored in the competition for Atletico Madrid prior to his switch to Manchester City, Aguero’s running tally stands at 37 Champions League goals.
15. Alessandro Del Piero – 42 goals
Standing among the most accomplished players in Juventus’ history, and within Italian football history as a whole, Del Piero made a mark in Europe’s most prestigious competition as well.
A member of the club’s Champions League-winning squad in 1996, the Italian forward seemed to shine brightest on the continental stage, scoring a career-high 10 goals in the competition in 1997-98.
Already immortalised in Turin as the club’s all-time leading scorer, Del Piero and his 42 goals scored for Juventus in the Champions League also land him a lofty place in the competition’s storied history.
14. Thomas Müller – 42 goals
No player has made more Champions League appearances for Bayern Munich than Muller, and the German goal scorer has made the most of his time on the pitch.
Muller scored eight goals during the club’s run to the title in 2012-2013 and has eclipsed the five goal mark on four occasions altogether, emerging as one of the most consistent scorers in the competition’s recent history.
With 42 goals in 105 appearances, Muller stands as Munich’s highest all-time scorer in European competition.
13. Didier Drogba – 44 goals
A Champions League title winner with Chelsea in 2012, Drogba remains among the most accomplished stars in the club’s European history.
The Ivory Coast forward found the back of the net six times during that title run, and scored at a rate of 166 minutes per goal for his career to become Chelsea’s all-time leading European scorer.
Retiring with 44 goals in 92 career appearances, Drogba stands among the top scorers in the history of the competition.
12. Eusébio – 46 goals
A three-time European Cup Golden Boot winner, Eusebio ranks among the greatest to ever appear in this competition.
The Portuguese forward scored five goals while leading Benfica to a European Cup title in 1962 and would later go on to become the club’s all-time leading scorer in all competitions.
The winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1965, Eusebio’s 46 goals in European competition still remain ingrained in Champions League folklore.
11. Filippo Inzaghi – 46 goals
The Italian striker split his Champions League scoring between Juventus and AC Milan, but found his greatest team success in the competition with the latter, hoisting the trophy with Milan twice (2003, 2007).
Inzaghi scored at a rate of 119 minutes per goal in 81 Champions League matches, and peaked with 10 goals in the competition in 2002-2003.
Inzaghi’s 46 Champions League goals leave him as the highest scoring Italian in the competition’s history.