The Champions League kicks off on Tuesday, yet another chance for Europe’s biggest stars to continue to rack up goals, from legends like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to youngsters like Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorer in the history of the competition with 134 goals, has proven it after his return to Manchester United with a double, twelve years after leaving the English team, with experiences in Spain (Real Madrid) and Italy (Juventus) .
His longtime rival, Messi, who has fourteen goals less than the Portuguese, with 120, has also changed clubs to join the Brazilian Neymar at Paris SG.
The Argentine hopes to reconcile with the queen of European competitions, who has not smiled at him with a title since 2015.
In the French capital, he will play alongside one of the European promises: the French Mbappé, second top scorer in the Champions League last year (8 goals), just behind another phenomenon in the making, the Norwegian Haaland, author of ten targets despite the elimination of his team, Borussia Dortmund, in the quarter-finals last season.
Although these two young stars amaze, they are still a long way from Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski (73 goals) and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema (71), fighting for third place in the all-time top scorers ranking of Champions.
The stainless Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned after an injury on Sunday with AC Milan and already a top scorer, is preparing to reencounter the Champions League, like his club, absent for seven years.
With 48 goals to his credit in the European competition, he will surely have in his sights the Frenchman Thierry Henry, seventh in the tournament’s scorers, with just two more than the Swede.
– Top scorers in the Champions League since 1992/93 (preliminary rounds excluded):
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) 134 goals
2. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 120
3. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 73
4. Raúl 71
. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 71
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy 56
7. Thierry Henry 50
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 48
. Andrei Shevchenko 48
. Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich) 48. AFP (HN)