5. Raul
At that time, it was Raul who set the bar for ridiculous numbers.
Described by Pep Guardiola as ‘the most important player in Spanish football history’, he netted 72 goals in 142 Champions League appearances.
He was the player you would pretend to be in the playground and one you wanted on the back of your shirt.
He once said: “I think I started playing football before I was born.”
If you ever saw him on the pitch, that doesn’t seem as ridiculous as it first sound.
4.ANDRES INIESTA
Thinking of his stoppage-time winner against Chelsea in the 2008/09 semi-final at Stamford Bridge.
The ball across from Messi, the pinpoint outside-of-the-boot finish into the top corner, the shirt-off celebration, his yellow thermal undershirt.
Did I mention his finish with the outside of his boot? Pure box office.
But to fixate on one specific moment would be to do down the career of one of the greatest players in one of the most gifted teams in living memory.
Iniesta’s brilliance generally came from something less tangible than flashes of genius.
He didn’t score or assist a huge amount, but that didn’t matter. It was more about how he played, the tempo he set.
If intelligence on the pitch was denoted by IQ, Iniesta would be the football equivalent of Stephen Hawking.
3. SERGIO RAMOS
There have been many better players than Ramos in the Champions League, but few as impactful.
The Real Madrid captain embodied the side that won the competition four times between 2014 and 2018.
Simply put, he’s clutch.
It was Ramos who scored two headers in four minutes in the 2014 semi-final demolition of Bayern.
It was Ramos whose 93rd-minute equaliser forced extra-time in that year’s final, which Real went on to win 4-1 to complete La Decima.
And it was Ramos who scored his side’s only goal in the 2016 final, when Real beat Atletico in a penalty shoot-out.
Injuring Mohamed Salah and elbowing Loris Karius shortly before the Liverpool keeper’s first error in the 2018 final sealed Ramos’ spot as football’s ultimate shithouse, and no appraisal of his career can be complete without mentioning his deployment of the dark arts.
The Spaniard is much more than a cheat or a thug, though.
He’s a fantastic player, and – aside from the two players above him on this list – the most dominant force of will in this competition’s history. JG
2. LIONEL MESSI
The Messi or Ronaldo argument has defined football for more than a decade, so, naturally, that’s what out countdown comes down to.
Ultimately, the decision wasn’t too difficult.
Messi’s Champions League medal tally (3) and goal tally (112) are freakish, but inferior to the man above (or, on this list, below) him. It is also undeniable that Barcelona have flopped in the Champions League since they lifted the 2015 title.
But, as you may have heard, we can enjoy them both.
Since making his debut in this competition as a 17-year-old, Messi has done things with a football that are unparalleled.
The four-goal haul against Arsenal in 2010, the dribble and finish in the Bernabeu in 2011. And the crowning glory, the shimmy past Jerome Boateng and chip over Manuel Neuer, 2015’s most tweeted about sporting and moment and UEFA’s goal of the season.
When neither of your goals in Champions League finals are the highlight of your career, something is going right.
These words don’t do him half the justice he deserves, but which words could? The GOAT isn't the Champions League GOAT, but it’s impossible to imagine he could’ve got much closer.
1. CRISTIANO RONALDO
Ronaldo is, without a doubt, the Champions League’s greatest ever player – a remarkable achievement given that he has played at the same time as football’s greatest ever player, Lionel Messi.
Unlike a league season, where the best team always wins, the outcome of knockout football is more influenced by individual contributions. Players can bend the game to their will, and no player has done this more forcefully or as often as Ronaldo, whose five Champions League titles are the most of any player.
Having claimed his first with Manchester United in 2008, the Portuguese is the reason a good, but not great Real Madrid side won four between 2013 and 2018.
Ronaldo is both the competition’s greatest goalscorer – he has 126, over half of which have come in knockout games – and the scorer of the some of its greatest goals: the fearless header at Roma (2008), the 40-yard rocket at Porto (2009) and the counter-attack away at Arsenal (2009).
Incredibly, none of those were named the Champions League’s goal of the season, an award he has won three times: for his no-back lift dink against Liverpool (2014), his outrageous overhead kick against Juventus (2017) and over-the-shoulder volley against Manchester United (2018).
If you don’t remember all of those, don’t worry. Ronaldo, the Champions League GOAT, makes the ordinary extraordinary.
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