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The Champions League has been the pinnacle of club football since its inception in 1992. The competition has been graced by the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho and Luis Figo, some of the greatest ever to have played the beautiful game.
Winning a Champions League trophy is one of the most arduous pursuits in the game, and only elite players and teams are able do it on multiple occasions. The Real Madrid squad between 2013-14 and 2017-18 won the competition four times in five years. That team comprised some of Europe's best players.
On that note, here's a look at the five best players to win the UEFA Champions League on multiple occasions:
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#5 Clarence Seedorf
Clarence Seedorf is undoubtedly one of the greatest playmakers in the Champions League era, representing some of Europe's biggest clubs.
The former Dutch international is the only player to have won the continent's biggest prize with three different clubs. Seedorf won his first Champions League trophy with his boyhood club Ajax in the 1994-95 campaign. He would win another title in the competition, this time with Real Madrid, before winning two more with AC Milan in the 2000s.
Seedorf is one of the most declared players in the Champions League era and has won every major trophy he has competed in at club level. With 131 Champions League appearances to his name, the Dutchman averages a winner's medal every 32.75 matches.
One of the finest playmakers of his generation, Seedorf registered a direct involvement in 39 goals (12 goals, 27 assists).
#4 Andres Iniesta
La Masia graduate Andres Iniesta is one of the greatest midfielders to have graced the beautiful game. Some of his best performances came about on big Champions League nights.
Along with Xavi, Iniesta was an indispensable component of Barcelona's 'tiki-taka' football. The Spaniard's immaculate vision and exquisite touch was the driving force behind Barcelona's domination of world football in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
One of Iniesta's most memorable Champions League performances was his last-minute equaliser against Chelsea in the 2008/09 Champions League semi-final second leg. Barcelona would go on to lift the trophy that year; Iniesta would win three more Champions League titles with his boyhood club.
In 130 Champions League appearances, the Vissel Kobe midfielder notched up a tally of 11 goals and 30 assists. Iniesta also played a crucial role in Barcelona's sextuple win in 2009, marking the first such instance by a European club.
#3 Sergio Ramos
Real Madrid have lost arguably their most valuable asset in the ongoing summer transfer window and one of the most decorated players in Champions League history.
Sergio Ramos has played a pivot role in every team he has represented, winning every major club and international trophy on offer. The Spaniard is not only one of the best defenders in world football in the 21st century, but he's also an exceptional leader who always leads by example, especially in big games.
Despite his reputation of picking up red cards, Ramos has stepped to the fore time and again in big matches. He has scored seven goals in the Champions League knockout stages, the most by any defender.
That includes a goal apiece in the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals against Real Madrid's cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid. Ramos scored the all-important equaliser in added time, courtesy a towering header in the 2014 CL final, while he opened the scoring in the 2016 title match.
#2 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is Barcelona's greatest player of the 21st century and arguably their best-ever in 121 years of history.
But Messi has left Barcelona this summer after an illustrious 17-season career, where he won 35 trophies. This incredible trophy haul includes four Champions League trophies.
La Pulga has been one of the most prolific goalscorers in the Champions League era and finds himself in second place in the competition's all-time goalscoring charts. Messi has notched up 120 goals from 149 appearances in the tournament.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner has produced some of the Champions League's greatest moments. Messi dummied one of the best defenders in world football at the time, Jerome Boateng, who twisted and tumbled onto the floor, while Messi chipped the ball over the best goalkeeper at the time, Manuel Neuer.
The Argentine also put on a masterclass against Manchester United at the Wembley Stadium in the 2011 Champions League final to score his first goal on English soil.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is unquestionably the greatest-ever player in the history of the Champions League.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner holds almost every major record in the Champions League. Ronaldo has the record for most Champions League goals (134), most appearances in the competition's knockout stage (34), most hat-tricks (8), highest goalscorer in CL finals (4), and the only player to score in three CL finals.
The Portuguese superstar is also the only player to score for two winning teams in the final, the only one to score in 11 successive games, the only one to score in all six group-stage matches in a season, and the list goes on and on.
Cristiano Ronaldo has racked up an incredible tally of 134 goals and 40 assists in just 176 appearances in the Champions League proper (group stage to final). The 36-year-old has laid his hands on five Champions League trophies at two different clubs.
Ronaldo was a key figure in Manchester United's Premier League and Champions League double in 2007-08. He would go on to win four more Champions League titles in the span of five years in Real Madrid colours.
