The UEFA Champions League is probably the most fiercely contested cup competitors in membership soccer. It takes immense technical high quality and psychological fortitude to face out on this competitors of champions, with solely a handful managing to take action annually. Essentially the most tangible approach of standing out is by ending as the highest scorer and successful the Golden Boot. Kylian Mbappe was the newest winner of the award, with the then-Paris Saint-Germain ahead scoring eight occasions to safe it in 2023-24.
Whereas Mbappe did nicely to win his first UEFA Champions League Golden Boot, it was not one for the historical past books. Through the years, we now have witnessed much more outstanding goalscoring performances from world-class forwards, and, at the moment, we’ll examine them out. Listed below are the 5 finest exhibitions of goalscoring in a single UEFA Champions League marketing campaign:
#5 Karim Benzema (Actual Madrid – 2021/22): 15 Targets
Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure in 2018, Karim Benzema acquired the chance to turn out to be Actual Madrid’s frontman. The Frenchman rose to the problem and confirmed he was top-of-the-line forwards the sport has ever seen.
Benzema, who’s at the moment plying his commerce at Al-Ittihad, loved the perfect season of his profession in 2021-22. He scored 44 targets and supplied 15 assists in 46 video games in all competitions, with 15 of these targets coming within the UEFA Champions League (12 video games).
Benzema scored two consecutive hat-tricks within the competitors. The primary one took Madrid to a comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain within the Spherical of 16 second leg. The second got here in opposition to Chelsea within the quarter-final first leg at Stamford Bridge. Benzema additionally scored within the return leg to assist Madrid to a 5-4 mixture win. Benzema turned up within the semi-final as nicely, scoring thrice in Madrid’s 6-5 mixture win over Manchester Metropolis.
Earlier than becoming a member of Al-Ittihad, Benzema performed 152 matches within the Champions League, scoring 90 occasions and offering 30 assists.
#4 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich – 2019/20): 15 Targets
Robert Lewandowski was by far probably the most ruthless goalscorer within the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League season. Regardless of enjoying solely one-legged quarter-final and semi-final ties on account of COVID-19, Lewandowski scored 15 targets. He additionally supplied six assists in 10 matches as Bayern Munich received the UEFA Champions League.
Lewandowski, who has scored 94 occasions in 120 UEFA Champions League video games, scored in each sport aside from the ultimate in 2019-20. His finest efficiency got here in got here in a Group B conflict in opposition to Pink Star Belgrade. The Polish striker scored 4 occasions because the Bavarians clinched a 6-0 victory.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Actual Madrid – 2017/18): 15 Targets
Cristiano Ronaldo comfortably received the UEFA Champions League Golden Boot in his final season at Actual Madrid. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored 15 targets in 13 outings, serving to Actual Madrid turn out to be the first-ever workforce to win the coveted trophy in three consecutive seasons.
Ronaldo scored in 10 consecutive matches main as much as the semi-finals. He scored three targets in opposition to Borussia Dortmund, two targets in opposition to Tottenham Hotspur, and 4 targets in opposition to APOEL Nicosia within the group stage. Within the Spherical of 16, he struck thrice in opposition to Paris Saint-Germain over two legs. His finest efficiency, nevertheless, got here in opposition to Juventus within the quarter-final first leg. He scored a brace, together with a world-class overhead kick, to assist Madrid to a 3-0 victory over the Bianconeri away from residence. Followers contained in the Allianz Stadium couldn’t assist however applaud the Portuguese as he scored top-of-the-line targets in UCL historical past.
Ronaldo has 140 Champions League targets to his identify (183 video games), a whopping 105 (101 video games) of which got here throughout his time with Actual Madrid.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Actual Madrid – 2015/16): 16 Targets
The one participant in historical past to attain over 900 profession targets, Cristiano Ronaldo, lit up the UEFA Champions League within the 2015-16 season. The Portuguese icon scored for enjoyable within the competitors that season, notching 16 targets in 12 outings as Actual Madrid received its eleventh Champions League.
Ronaldo scored a whopping 11 targets in six group-stage video games in 2015-16, scoring thrice in a 4-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk and 4 occasions in an 8-0 thumping of Malmo on Matchday 6. Within the quarter-final second leg in opposition to VfL Wolfsburg, Ronaldo delivered arguably the perfect efficiency of his UCL profession. After the Whites misplaced 2-0 within the first leg, he scored an otherworldly hat-trick to safe a 3-0 victory within the second leg, sending Madrid by means of to the semi-finals with a 3-2 mixture scoreline.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Actual Madrid – 2013/14): 17 Targets
Mr. Champions League Cristiano Ronaldo loved his career-best goalscoring marketing campaign within the 2013-14 season, scoring a report 17 targets in solely 11 matches. His heroics helped Los Blancos to their tenth Champions League title, aka ‘La Decima’.
Ronaldo scored in 10 of the 11 UCL video games he performed in that season. He bagged a hat-trick within the event opener in opposition to Galatasaray, scored consecutive braces in opposition to FC Copenhagen and Juventus; repeated the double-brace feat within the Spherical of 16 clashes in opposition to Schalke, and scored a superb double in Actual Madrid’s 4-0 victory over Bayern Munich within the semi-final second leg. He additionally scored (a penalty) as Los Merengues beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 within the ultimate.
