5 of the greatest strikers of the Champions League era

#4 Ruud Van Nistelrooy (The Netherlands)

Clubs: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid

The Dutch legend was majestic during his playing days

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.