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The UEFA Champions League has for years been hallowed ground for the world's best footballers. A competition that has been graced by the best of the best, its status as the world's biggest club competition is unrivalled.
One of the greatest features of the competition has been the number of top-class strikers that have graced the competition since it was started in 1955. The likes of Gerd Muller, Alfredo Di Stefano, Francisco Gento and others have graced the competition with their presence, silky dribbles and amazing goals in the era when the competition was still the European Cup.
However, since it was rebranded to become the Champions League in 1992, the number of great goalscorers that have graced the competition has been impressive to view. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the record holders for goals in the tournament with 120 and 105 goals respectively.
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Here is a look at 5 of the best strikers that have featured prominently in the competition since it was rebranded in 1992:
#5 Filippo Inzaghi (Italy)
Clubs played for: Juventus & AC Milan
One of the greatest exponents of the art of finishing, Pippo was an arch-predator who always delivered. His slight frame and lack of a discernible dribbling skill meant he wasn't as highly regarded as some of his peers. He is one of the more underrated strikers in the modern era.
What he lacked in technical skill, he more than made up for with an uncanny sense of positioning and a never say die attitude. In 370 Serie A games, he scored 158 goals playing for clubs like AC Milan, Juventus, Hellas Verona, Atalanta and others.
However, it was in the UEFA Champions League that he shone brightest. Between 1997 and 2012, Inzaghi featured prominently for Italy's best two Champions League teams; Juventus and AC Milan.
The former Italian international who is currently the coach at Bologna scored 46 goals in 81 Champions League games for both clubs. At a scoring rate of 0.57 per game, he was prominent in the two titles won by Milan (2002-2003 & 2006-2007).
Despite his retirement 12 years ago, Inzaghi is still one of the highest goalscorers in UEFA competitions history with 72 goals. This is a phenomenal record for a player unjustly criticized as not being good enough for the highest level.
#4 Ruud Van Nistelrooy (The Netherlands)
Clubs: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid
When the elite strikers of the late 90s to early 2000s are mentioned, no way will the name of Nistelrooy be omitted. Ruud, as he was simply known, was a force of nature combining fearsome pace and power with intelligent movement and, of course, an unerring finishing ability.
Derided by certain football purists as a great scorer of goals and nothing more, he confounded his critics with his technique, power, and ability to always make the right decisions.
Rightfully nicknamed the new Marco Van Basten on his emergence from Heerenveen, Van Nistelrooy blew everyone away following his move to PSV and followed it up with a fantastic run at European giants Manchester United and Real Madrid.
249 goals in 449 club games tell its own story; they are the statistics of a truly exceptional striker and his record of 35 goals in 70 games for Oranje (one in two games) is incomparable.
In the UEFA Champions League, he had an amazing record of 56 goals in 73 matches at a rate of 0.77 goals per game. Sadly, the Dutch great never got to lift Europe's greatest club trophy despite his amazing goal haul.
#3 Andriy Shevchenko
Clubs: Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan, Chelsea
The blonde mane, the pace, the dribbling abilities, the deadly finishing and the dexterity, Shevchenko is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in world football in the last few decades.
Possessing the versatility of playing either through the wings, in a pair or as a sole striker down the middle, Sheva excelled at all these roles everywhere he played except for his spell at Chelsea under a Jose Mourinho unwilling to change the team’s shape to accommodate the gifted Ukrainian.
Strong, fast and capable of hitting the ball accurately with both feet, Andriy’s best years were in the black and red of AC Milan where he is fondly remembered till today.
An incredible haul of 346 goals in 716 matches is a testament to the brilliance of this generational talent. His record for the Ukrainian national team is also exceptional; 48 goals in 111 appearances.
In the UCL, the former Ballon d'Or winner plundered 48 goals in 100 games averaging 0.44 goals per game. He missed the decisive penalty in the 2005 final against Liverpool but scored the winning one in the 2003 final against Juventus.
#2 Thierry Henry (France)
Clubs: AS Monaco, Arsenal & FC Barcelona
The image of a fleet-footed, gazelle-like genius jumping over challenges, pirouetting away from opponents and making scoring look like the world’s easiest job is one that Arsenal fans constantly have wet dreams over.
Quite unlike some of the other strikers on the list, Henry was not just a great goalscorer, he was also a scorer of great goals. This is evinced by his repertoire of goals which include mazy run and finish goals, screamers from outside the box, poacher’s finishes as well as brilliance from set-pieces. One of a very select few who have won all major competitions at both club and national level, Thierry’s career was exceedingly brilliant.
His UCL run was best at Arsenal. He totalled 50 goals in 112 games with a 0.45 goal-to-game ratio. He led the Gunners to its first and only UCL ever-final in 2006 against Barcelona. However, he was able to get his hands on the trophy when he joined Pep Guardiola's brilliant Barca team in 2009
An incredible haul of 356 goals in 771 games for the clubs he played for, his tally for Les Bleus was just as impressive, netting 51 times in 123 appearances.
#1 Raúl González Blanco
Clubs: Real Madrid, Schalke 04
El Capitan himself, Raúl was one of the greatest ever strikers to ever come out of Spain and Europe.
His style of play; harrying defenders, running the channels, finding space where none seems to exist and an innate ability to find the back of the net almost at will coupled with a vision and intelligence that is rare these days mark him out as one of the best in the Golden Age.
The greatest Number 7 in the history of Real Madrid (before Cristiano Ronaldo arrived of course) embodied everything that was good about Real Madrid and won more medals than every other person on this list.
His records for goals for both Real Madrid & Spain may have been eclipsed by Ronaldo and David Villa respectively but his legacy remains undiminished. Due to the fact that he spent most of his career at the Santiago Bernabeu, he got to play more UCL games than the others on this list; 142 in all.
His record of 71 goals in these 142 games tells the story of a world-class striker better than most. He remains the 3rd highest goalscorer in the history of the competition. With 3 trophies (1998, 2000 and 2002), Raúl left an indelible mark on the competition.
