It helps to have a top-class striker to go far in the Champions League – and especially to win it.
Many of the game's greatest goalscorers have propelled their teams to European Cup or Champions League glory.
In the inaugural edition of the European Cup, in 1955/56, Partizan's Miloš Milutinović finished as top scorer with nine goals.
Since then, more than 20 players have netted 10 or more times in a single edition of Europe's premier club competition. Here, a look at the highest scorers in a season up until the start of the expanded Champions League in 2024/25...
16. Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero scored 290 goals in 705 appearances in a long career at Juventus, with 42 of those strikes coming in the Champions League.
A winner in 1996 and a three-time runner-up, in 1997, 1998 and 2003, Del Piero finished as top scorer with 10 goals in the 1997/98 edition. Juve lost 1-0 in the final to Real Madrid.
15. Raúl
Still one of the Champions League's all-time top scorers, Raúl netted 71 goals in the competition and won it three times with Real Madrid.
Joint-top scorer alongside Barcelona's Rivaldo and Porto's Mário Jardel in 2000, Raúl netted 10 goals, including one in the final as Madrid beat Valencia 3-0. The following season, the former Spain striker was top scorer outright as Real lost in the semi-finals to Bayern Munich.
14. Neymar
With Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at their brilliant best, only one other player was able to finish as Champions League top scorer between 2008 and 2019.
That was Neymar in 2015. The Brazilian scored 10 times for Barcelona en route to the title, and the treble, including one in the final against Juventus in Berlin. But he still finished level with Ronaldo and Messi.
13. Kaká
Kaká won the Champions League twice as an AC Milan player – in 2003 and 2007 – and finished as a runner-up in 2005 as Liverpool came back from three goals down to win in Istanbul.
The Brazlian midfielder scored 10 goals to finish as top scorer in the 2006/07 edition, including three as Milan beat Manchester United 5-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
12. Marco van Basten
One of the greatest goalscorers in football history, Marco van Basten is a legend with Ajax, AC Milan and the Dutch national team.
Van Basten won two European Cups with Milan, in 1989 and 1990, and scored 10 goals in nine games en route to the trophy in the first of those – including two in a 4-0 victory against Steaua Bucharest in the final.
11. José Torres
A prolific centre-forward with Benfica in the 1960s, José Torres won nine Portuguese titles with the Lisbon club and was a three-time runner-up in the European Cup.
Torres finished as top scorer in the 1964/65 edition, netting 10 times as Benfica reached the final, losing 1-0 to Inter.
10. José Águas
Born in Angola as part of a Portuguese colonial family, José Águas was a free-scoring striker who played for Benfica in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Águas was Benfica's captain and star player before the emergence of Eusébio and helped the Lisbon club win the European Cup in 1961 and 1962. In the first of those, he finished as the competition's top scorer with 11 goals. His son, Rui Águas, also had two spells at Benfica and was joint-top scorer in the European Cup with four goals in 1987/88.
9. Ferenc Puskás
One of the few men to score a hat-trick in a European Cup final and the only one to have achieved it twice, Ferenc Puskás won the trophy three times with Real Madrid.
The Hungarian great scored 12 goals in the 1960 European Cup as Real Madrid won the trophy for the fifth time in a row, including four in an incredible 7-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the final.
8. Ruud van Nistelrooy
One of the fewer players in this list never to have won the Champions League, Ruud van Nistelrooy was top scorer three times in Europe's premier club competition.
Van Nistelrooy scored 10 goals as Manchester United reached the semi-finals in 2001/02, 12 en route to the last eight in 2002/03 and eight as the Red Devils were eliminated in the round of 16 in 2004/05.
7. José Altafini
A legend of Brazilian and Italian football, José Altafini represented both nations in the 1950s and 1960s and also enjoyed an excellent club career.
One of the highest scorers in Serie A history, Altafini won two league titles with both AC Milan and Juventus and netted 14 times in the European Cup in 1963, including two in the final as the Rossoneri beat Benfica 2-1 at Wembley.
6. Gerd Müller
Gerd Müller is one of the greatest goalscorers in history and Der Bomber helped fire Bayern Munich to three consecutive European Cup wins in the 1970s.
Müller's best return was in the competition was 11 goals in 1972/73, the year Ajax won a third straight title. The West German great finished as top scorer with eight as Bayern took the trophy in 1973/74, was tied with Ararat Yerevan's Eduard Markarov on five as the Bavarians retained the title in 1974/75 and level with FC Zürich's Franco Cucinotta on five again in 1976/77. He scored 34 European Cup goals in all between 1969 and 1977.
5. Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland is breaking all sorts of goal records and the Norwegian striker has been a prolific scorer in the Champions League.
Top scorer with Borussia Dortmund in 2020/21 with 10 goals, Haaland helped Manchester City win the title for the first time in 2022/23, netting 12 times in the Champions League as the Sky Blues claimed the treble.
4. Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema played a huge part in Real Madrid's success in the Champions League, winning the competition five times in his 14 seasons at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Operating in a more sacrificial role due to the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo for much of his time in Madrid, Benzema became more prolific following the departure of the Portuguese. He hit 90 goal in the Champions League overall, including 15 en route to the title in 2021/22.
3. Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is one of the highest scorers in Champions League history, converting consistently in the competition for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
The Polish striker finished as the Champions League's top scorer in 2019/20, netting 15 times in total as Bayern claimed the title.
2. Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi won the Champions League four times as a Barcelona player, although he missed the latter stages of the competition in 2005/06 due to injury.
Messi is the second-highest scorer in Champions League history, with 129 goals overall. The Argentine finished as the top scorer in a season on six occasions, all with Barcelona: with nine goals en route to the title in 2008/09, eight in 2009/10, 12 in another win in 2010/11, 14 in 2011/12, 10 as part of a treble triumph in 2014/15 and 12 in 2018/19.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is the Champions League's all-time top scorer with 140 goals and finished as the competition's leading marksman on no less than seven occasions.
The Portuguese superstar was top scorer in 2007/08 with Manchester United, when he hit eight goals en route to the title. Ronaldo then scored 12 for Real Madrid in 2012/13, a tournament record 17 as Los Blancos won the title in 2013/14, 10 more (tying with Barcelona pair Neymar and Lionel Messi) in 2015/16, before notching 16, 12 and 15 in 2015/16, 2016/16 and 2017/16, respectively, as Madrid won the trophy three years in a row. Mr Champions League.
