This season’s Champions League group stage campaign got underway last night with a match between AC Milan and Newcastle United.
Headlined by the presence of young talents like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, this season’s Champions League will not have either of its two greats—Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi—for the first time in 20 years. With innumerable records to their name, Ronaldo and Messi have arguably been the two greatest footballers ever to feature in the Champions League.
Having severed his ties with Manchester United, Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr last season. Messi, on the other hand, moved to Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Inter Miami earlier this summer.
In this article we take a look at Champions League records held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
All-time top scorer
With 141 goals under his belt, Ronaldo is currently the all-time top-scorer in the history of Champions League. Former Barcelona wizard Messi claims the second spot on the list having scored 129 goals in the Champions League.
Group stage top-scorer
Messi holds a slight edge over Ronaldo in this segment. On this list of the Champions League group stage top-scorers, Argentina’s World Cup-winning skipper pipped Ronaldo, having netted seven more goals. With 73 Champions League group stage strikes, the Portuguese talisman finds himself in second position on this elite list of players.
According to UEFA, Ronaldo holds the record for most appearances in the history of Champions League. The former Manchester United goal machine has played in 187 Champions League matches till now. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made 101 appearances for Real Madrid and 23 appearances for Juventus before joining Manchester United in 2021. Ronaldo has played 24 matches more than Messi in the Champions League.
Most assists
Apart from being the all-time top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo has provided more assists than Lionel Messi in Champions League. As per UEFA stats, the former Real Madrid player has the most number of assists- 42- in the Champions League history. Meanwhile, Messi has 40 Champions League assists to his name.
Record for most goals in a Champions League group stage
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most goals in a Champions League group stage campaign having netted 11 goals for Real Madrid during the 2015-16 campaign. Moreover, Ronaldo and Sebastien Haller are the only two footballers in the Champions League history who succeeded in scoring on every single matchday in one particular group stage. Ronaldo achieved this sensational feat during his association with Real Madrid back in the 2017-18 season.