The greatest players in the game are frequently seen participating in the Champions League, which was created to pit the top clubs in Europe against one another year after year. Over the years, the top midfielders, defenders, and goalkeepers have all established themselves in the Champions League.
The competition has also included the most gifted goal scorers, and although it may be too much for some, a few extraordinary players have stepped up to the plate and performed in front of the Champions League’s biggest lights. Strikers are evaluated based on their goal totals, and the tournament’s all-time top scorers are among the greatest players to have ever set foot on a football pitch.
However, a striker’s goals to game ratio is a stronger indicator of how good they were in the competition. The ratio of goals they scored to games played shows how good they were while they were in the Champions League and is a solid indicator of how effective they were in front of goal. These are the top 20 football players in Champions League history in terms of goals per game.
Players in the Champions League with the highest goals-per-game ratios
Rank
The player
Played games
Scored goals
The ratio
11.
Salah Mohamed
86
47
0.55
Twelve
Jardel
46
25
0.54
13.
Neymar
81
43
0.53
14
Aguero Sergio
79
41
0.52
15.
Raul
142
71
0.50
16
Cavani Edinson
70
35
0.50
17
Trezeguet, David
58
29
0.50
18
Shevchenko, Andriy
One hundred
48
0.48
19.
Didier Drogba
92
44
0.48
20
Makaay Roy
61
29
0.48
10Filippo Inzaghi
0.57 Goals-per-game
Throughout his amazing career, the former AC Milan player won the Champions League twice and consistently delivered strong performances. There were no more significant goals than his brace in the 2007 Champions League final as Milan defeated Liverpool 2-1. He scored 46 goals in 81 appearances, giving him a goals-per-game ratio of 0.57.
Younger football fans won’t know how good Inzaghi was in his heyday in Italy because he has mostly been forgotten over the years. However, he deserves recognition for having more than made his stamp on the best club tournament in all of football.
9Mario Gomez
0.59 Goals-per-game
Mario Gomez is another well-known figure from his generation who shined during his career but isn’t as respected as some of the others. When he was playing football, the former striker for Bayern Munich was a goal machine. He had a stellar record in Germany with teams like Bayern and VfB Stuttgart, but he was especially strong in the Champions League.
During the competition, the former German international scored 26 goals in 44 games. He took home the title once during the period and placed second twice others.
8Karim Benzema
0.59 Goals-per-game
Karim Benzema has been an outstanding striker for Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League for many years and still is, despite spending a significant amount of his career playing in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo. However, he became one of the world’s top scorers during his time with Real Madrid and Lyon.
In addition to winning a tonne of trophies for both teams at home, he excelled in the Champions League. However, his tenure with Los Blancos was particularly noteworthy. The Frenchman won the competition an incredible five times and scored 90 goals in 152 games.
7Kylian Mbappe
0.63 Goals-per-game
Former Real Madrid player turned superstar Kylian Mbappe joined the Spanish team in the summer of 2024, and his stellar Champions League record was a major factor in their interest in him. He never won the trophy with Paris Saint-Germain, but it wasn’t because he didn’t try.
Mbappe has already scored 51 goals in 80 competition games, and because he is only 26 years old, his record may improve even more now that he is playing at the Santiago Bernabeu. Given the abundance of talented players at Madrid, he may soon also win a Champions League championship.
6Harry Kane
0.68 Goals-per-game
Even though he hasn’t won a single trophy in his football career—something that should soon change now that he plays for Bayern Munich—Harry Kane has been scoring goals consistently throughout his career, regardless of the competition. This also applies to his time in the Champions League.
He has never struggled to score in the league, whether it was with Tottenham Hotspur or Bayern. Kane has scored 34 goals in 50 Champions League games. Now that he is playing for the Bundesliga powerhouses, he has a greater chance than ever of winning the championship.
5Ruud van Nistelrooy
0.77 Goals-per-game
Despite the fact that his Premier League managerial career may not be going quite as planned, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s time on the pitch was a huge success. The Dutchman was a formidable opponent in front of goal and frequently scored for teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United.
He scored 56 goals in the Champions League in just 73 games. There was no doubt that Van Nistelrooy would play at a very high level each time he took the pitch throughout the competition. He was still quite good, but his great form never translated into winning the trophy.
4Cristiano Ronaldo
0.77 Goals-per-game
Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with the most goals in the Champions League. With an absurd 140 goals, the Portuguese sensation is 11 goals ahead of second place. Throughout his career, he won the tournament five times and dominated it like no one else had. Ronaldo was at his best in the Champions League, whether he was playing for Juventus, United, or Real Madrid.
However, he scored 140 goals in 183 games, meaning his goals-per-game ratio is 0.77. Three players have somehow managed to outperform him in that regard. Given that he is approaching his fortieth birthday and currently resides in Saudi Arabia, it seems unlikely that he will ever have the opportunity to make amends.
3Lionel Messi
0.79 Goals-per-game
Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s fiercest rival, is appropriately ranked just one spot higher than the Portuguese player. With good reason, the Barcelona icon is regarded as the best football player of all time. One factor contributing to his extraordinary talent is his stellar Champions League record.
Every time the Argentine played in the competition, he was able to step up and succeed, whether it was for Barcelona or PSG. Messi scored 129 goals in 163 games while playing in Europe, but now that he’s playing in Miami, it looks like his time in the Champions League is finished, just like his opponent.
2Robert Lewandowski
0.81 Goals-per-game
Robert Lewandowski has consistently been an incredible goal scorer over the years. He had no trouble locating the back of the net wherever he went. Despite the fact that he is now over 35, he is somehow only growing better. The Polish superstar’s 2022 move to Barcelona was meant to be the end of his dominant career in the Champions League, following years of dominating with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
Rather, he has continued to be outstanding, and only one player has a higher goals-per-game ratio than him with 103 goals in 127 Champions League games.
1Erling Haaland
1.02 Goals-per-game
Erling Haaland is the only player in Champions League history to have scored more goals than he has played in games, with a goals-per-game ratio of 1.02. It’s a rather absurd comeback, but it’s hardly shocking given what the Norwegian has done for teams like Manchester City and Dortmund over the years.
In the Premier League, no one has ever scored as frequently as he has, and his performance in Europe is obviously no different. In 46 Champions League games, Haaland has scored 47 goals. It’s no accident that during his first season at the Etihad, City won the competition for the first time ever.
