With his goal at Benfica Lisbon, superstar Lionel Messi from French champions Paris St. Germain has further reduced the gap in the “eternal” list of goalscorers in the Champions League to leader Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentina international has now scored 127 goals, seven of them for his current employers. Messi scored his first goal against Benfica in the competition, scoring against a record 40 different clubs.
Ronaldo, who is in the hunt for goals with Manchester United in the Europa League this season, is just 13 goals clear of his long-time rivals. Robert Lewandowski from FC Barcelona (89 goals) and Karim Benzema (86) from Real Madrid follow in the ranking.
Top Champions League goalscorers:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo 140 goals*
2. Lionel Messi 127 *
3. Robert Lewandowski 89 *
4. Karim Benzema 86 *
5. Raul 71
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy 56
7. Thomas Muller 52 *
8. Thierry Henry 50
9.Zlatan Ibrahimovic 48 *
9. Andrei Shevchenko 48
* still active