Kylian Mbappé has got off to a flying start for Real Madrid this season, and is nudging ever closer to the luminaries at the summit of the UEFA Champions League all-time top goal-scorer list.
The prolific forward helped himself to a hat trick in his side’s 5-0 demolition of Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty to take his tally to five goals in just two games in Europe this season, swelling his career haul in the competition to 60 goals in total.
Mbappé is now sixth in the official European Cup/Champions League all-time scoring chart, which only counts goals scored in the competition proper, not in qualifiers or playoffs.
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The 26-year-old France international had already moved up a place in the order by scoring a brace in Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Marseille on Matchday 1, and is now just 11 goals shy of cracking the top five. However, a considerable gulf remains between him and the top spot.
The upper echelons of the scoring chart is positively cluttered with Real Madrid players, with half of the top 10 having represented the most successful club in European Cup history.
Henry scored for three different clubs in the Champions League, though the majority were scored for Arsenal, with whom he finished as a runner-up in 2005-06 when the Gunners were pipped by Barcelona in Paris. The silky French forward then signed for Barcelona in 2007-08 and won the competition as part of the Catalan club’s 2008-09 Treble triumph.
It’s fair to suggest that Haaland is on course to go all the way to the top of the Champions League scoring charts, especially if he maintains the near-1:1 rate at which he is currently finding the net in Europe. The Norway striker has already scored for three different clubs in the competition, including 27 goals in 30 games for current employer Manchester City, as well as Borussia Dortmund and FC Salzburg. Indeed, his headed goal against Napoli in City’s opening league phase fixture ousted the great Alfredo Di Stéfano from the top 10 of the all-time Champions League goal-scorers, with the Real Madrid legend having been the only remaining representative of the European Cup era.
With one of the highest scoring rates in the top 10, Van Nistelrooy was famed for his “fox in the box” poaching prowess which he displayed while leading the line for PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid. The former Netherlands international was never able to lift the trophy but did finish as the Champions League golden boot winner in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2004-05, as well as being crowned top assist provider in 2001-02.
Müller has the distinction of being the only player in the top 10 to have scored all of his Champions League goals for one club. The ever-popular Bayern Munich star won the competition twice with the Bavarian giants in 2012-13 and 2019-20, the season in which he scored twice in Bayern’s famous 8-2 quarterfinal mauling of Barcelona.
Mbappé became the newest member of the Champions League 60-goal club by helping himself to a hat trick on Tuesday. The Real Madrid star has already weighed in with five goals in Europe this season to help boost his tally, which is almost certain to keep increasing as the competition progresses.
Indeed, Mbappé now has a Real Madrid legend in his sights, with Raúl just 11 goals ahead of his clubmate in the all-time standings. The ex-Spain striker scored 66 goals for Los Blancos while winning the Champions League in 1997-98, 1999-00 and 2001-02. He added a further five goals during his short stint at German club Schalke 04, helping them reach the semifinals in 2010-11.
He may have played second fiddle to a certain Portuguese superstar called Cristiano Ronaldo for the majority of his Real Madrid career, but nonetheless Benzema provided a vital and reliable stream of goals and won the Champions League on no fewer than five occasions. After being cleared to move into a more central role, the France striker won the fifth, final and most impressive UCL title of his career in 2021-22 by scoring 15 goals in 12 games en route to the final, and he was bestowed with the 2022 Ballon d’Or shortly thereafter.
One of only three players in history to pass the 100-goal mark in the Champions League, Lewandowski has proven to be one of the competition’s most formidable marksmen with Borussia Dortmund, Bayern and now Barcelona. The 37-year-old Poland captain has only won the competition once, with Bayern in 2019-20 — the season in which he hit 15 goals in just 887 minutes of game time to also land the UEFA Champions League top goal-scorer award.
One of the twin behemoths of modern European competition, Messi amassed 120 goals in 149 Champions League games for Barcelona (plus an additional nine goals in 14 games for Paris Saint-Germain) on his way to winning the competition four times. What’s more, he also finished as the Champions League’s single-season top goal-scorer six times (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2018-19) during his stellar career. The Argentina captain has also scored a joint-record eight hat tricks in the competition, an achievement he shares with the man at the very top of the tree.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to find Ronaldo leading the pack. The Portugal captain has scored Champions League goals for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus in the competition, but it was at Madrid that he really hit his stride, notching 105 goals in just 101 games while lifting the trophy four times. He jointly holds the record for most hat tricks (8) and also finished as the single-season top goal-scorer on seven occasions in the 10 years between 2007-2018. Mbappé needs to average 10 Champions League goals a season for the next eight years if he is to have any hope of retiring as top scorer.