The 10 top scoring Champions League players since Cristiano Ronaldo left Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time Champions League top scorer with 140 goals but who has taken on the mantle since he’s been out of the spotlight?
With the new and extended group phase coming into play this season, players will get even more opportunities to add to their Champions League tally.
We’ve taken a closer look at the UCL top scorers charts since CR7 left Juventus at the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Note: when players are tied on the same number of goals, we have ordered them by their goals-per-game ratio.
10. Sebastien Haller – 12 goals
Thanks to his superior goals-per-game ratio to Antoine Griezmann, Haller managed to claim a spot in the top 10 with 12 UCL goals since 2021-22.
Impressively, 11 of those 12 goals all came during the 2021-22 campaign as the Ivory Coast international was in sparkling hot form for Ajax. He’s never been able to match that sort of tally since having only scored one UCL goal in his last six European appearances.
9. Leroy Sane – 13 goals
Largely thanks to his excellent scoring season in 2021-22, Sane makes the cut for this list with 13 goals in his last 33 UCL appearances.
The German winger is yet to get his hands on the coveted trophy, although Bayern Munich do stand a good chance of going deep in the competition this year.
8. Harry Kane – 14 goals
At the rate he’s been scoring since joining Bayern Munich, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Kane climbing this list by a few places before the season ends.
Of the 14 Champions League goals that he scored since 2021-22, 13 of them have been for Bayern Munich while the other goal was scored while he was still at Tottenham.
Since joining the German giants, Kane has averaged a goal contribution every 78.5 minutes in Europe. For context, Ronaldo averaged a UCL goal contribution every 88 minutes throughout his career.
7. Rodrygo – 15 goals
Often overlooked because of some of the fellow superstars that he plays alongside, Rodrygo has scored plenty of clutch goals for Real Madrid over the years.
In last year’s quarter-final against Manchester City, the Brazilian winger scored in both the home and away leg as Real Madrid managed to progress via penalties.
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6. Mohamed Salah – 17 goals
When it comes to consistently hitting the back of the net, few players have matched Salah for his consistency since he joined Liverpool.
Unsurprisingly, since the start of 2021-22, he scored more UCL goals than any other Liverpool player with 17 goals in 24 appearances.
5. Karim Benzema – 19 goals
Upon Ronaldo leaving Real Madrid in 2018, Benzema took on the mantle as the club’s talisman in the immediate years that followed.
His best-ever scoring campaign in the competition came in 2021-22 as he bagged 15 goals in just 12 appearances. During that emphatic run, he scored hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea, along with a brace against Manchester City too.
From 2021 to 2023, the Frenchman averaged 0.86 goals per game in the UCL which is some going.
4. Vinicius Junior – 21 goals
Having already scored in two separate Champions League finals, it’s no surprise that the Brazilian superstar makes the cut for this list.
In last year’s competition, he averaged a goal contribution every 82 minutes as the 24-year-old chipped in with six goals and five assists as Real Madrid won their 15th Champions League title.
After narrowly missing out on the 2024 Ballon d’Or, he’s going to be more determined than ever to up his numbers this year.
3. Kylian Mbappe – 22 goals
Despite being without a Champions League medal, it’s still fair to say that Mbappe has been one of the best players in the competition over the last five years.
He enjoyed his joint-best scoring season in Europe last season as he bagged eight goals for PSG who made it to the semi-finals.
The 25-year-old is still finding his feet in a Real Madrid shirt right now, but he’s already off the mark with his first goal in Europe for Los Blancos.
2. Robert Lewandowski – 24 goals
Like Ronaldo, Lewandowski has also aged like a fine wine. The 36-year-old is still going strong today and he stands a great chance of winning his third UCL medal if Barcelona maintain their excellent form under Hansi Flick.
Since the 2021-22 campaign, the Polish forward has scored 24 goals in Europe at a rate of 0.88 goals per game.
He’s also arguably the most in-form forward in world football right now.
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1. Erling Haaland – 24 goals
Who else?
When it comes to hitting the back of the net, not many players can hold a candle to Haaland’s obscene numbers since 2021.
The Norwegian forward has scored 24 UCL goals in his last 27 appearances and he looks hungry for more. If he maintains his current pace, Ronaldo’s all-time top-scorer accolade could be in jeopardy.