Top 10 goal scoring midfielders in the Champions League era

#2 Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes celebrates his goal against Barcelona in 2008

Goals Scored: 24

The former Manchester United man scored less number of goals in the Premier League in comparison to his compatriots Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, but is much ahead of the two when it comes to the number of goals scored in Europe’s elite competition. However, Lampard and Gerrard are still active and therefore can still overtake Scholes.

Scholes won the tournament with Manchester United on two occasions and has finished second best with Manchester United on two occasions.

He was key to Manchester United’s treble success in 1998-99. The Englishman scored an away goal against Internazionale in the quarter final which put the tie out of the Italian side’s reach. Although Scholes was instrumental in United’s road to the final, he picked up a yellow card in the semi-final which ruled him out of the final against Bayern Munich through suspension.

The most important goal that he scored was probably the one he scored against Barcelona in 2008. It was the semifinal of the Champions League and the first leg finished 0-0 at the Nou Camp. In the second leg the game was evenly poised at 0-0 when Scholes picked up the ball from around 40 yards from goal, took a couple of touches and fired it in. United qualified for the final thanks to that goal and eventually won the tournament.