The 10 players with the most Champions League goals & assists: Messi or Ronaldo at No.1?

The Champions League is seen as the pinnacle of club football and the competition in which a number of legendary players have built their reputations as all-time greats.

But who were the biggest difference makers in European competition when it came to the final third? There have been some incredible goalscorers and mesmerizing playmakers, but it takes something special to score goals and prepare for them.

We looked at the 10 players with the most goals and assists in the history of the Champions League.

As one of only two players in this top 10 currently playing for a European club, there's no telling how high Mbappe could climb by the time he hangs up his boots.

Real Madrid's newest Galactico is still just 25 years old and could continue to score goals and assists on the big European stage for at least another decade.

The Dutchman was one of the deadliest strikers of his generation and represented both Manchester United and Real Madrid in Europe's most prestigious cup competition – but he never got his big ears.

Van Nistelrooy could not have achieved much more on an individual basis, with 56 goals and 16 assists in just 73 Champions League appearances.

Erling Haaland has just broken his record for most goals in a Champions League season for a Premier League club: twelve goals as Manchester United reached the quarter-finals in the 2022/2023 season.

8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 74 (48 goals, 26 assists)

Ibrahimovic has won no fewer than fourteen national titles in a career spanning more than twenty years.

He played for a number of top European clubs and scored 74 direct goals (48 goals, 26 assists), but the Champions League remains elusive.

7. Neymar – 76 (43 goals, 33 assists)

Of the players in the top 10, Neymar has the most balanced number of goals (43) and assists (33) – in just 81 appearances.

The Brazilian's world-record move to PSG did not bring the Ballon d'Or he coveted, nor the Champions League glory that is their obsession – but let's not forget that he is (was?) an exceptional player when he is fit and was available.

Only five players in the history of the Champions League have provided more assists than Bayern Munich's Raumdeuter (30).

Muller is also sixth on the league's all-time top scorers list with 54 goals. He has also won the title twice, having starred in the Bavarians' historic treble-winning campaigns in 2012-13 and 2019-20.

The legendary Spanish striker had a perfect one-on-two goals record with 71 goals in 142 Champions League games for Real Madrid and Schalke.

Raul also provided another 16 assists.

Now we are in stratospheric territory.

Benzema made his Champions League debut for boyhood club Lyon in 2005. He won the competition an impressive five times with Real Madrid and started in every final.

The forward was an elite player for almost two decades and did not reach his peak until well into his thirties.

After Cristiano Ronaldo left the Bernabeu in 2018, Benzema scored 34 goals and eight assists in 46 Champions League appearances – taking his tally to 90 goals and 29 assists.

King Karim was particularly deadly in the knockout stages. The epitome of a big game player.

READ: The top 10 Champions League knockout scorers: Ronaldo, Messi, Benzema…

Lewandowski is the Champions League's third all-time top scorer with 99 goals in 111 games for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

The Poland international has another 22 assists.

Could he one day eclipse the figures of Messi and Ronaldo?

Currently second for both goals (129) and assists (40), it's no surprise that Messi is in second place, miles away from the rest of the competition.

Messi is arguably the greatest player in history and will have ambitions to overtake his eternal rival for both goals and assists by the time he hangs up his boots.

Erling Haaland is the only other player with a goals to assists ratio better than goals or assists per game. Messi's 169 direct goals come from just 163 Champions League appearances.

Ronaldo, the undisputed king of the Champions League, has certainly played his last game in the competition, but it is not inconceivable that his record remains unbeaten forever.

The 38-year-old is the European Cup's all-time top scorer (140) and assistant (42).