Does Cristiano Ronaldo settle GOAT debate v Lionel Messi? All-time UEFA Champions League goals, assists, games rankings
Updated 12/03/2025 at 14:39 GMT
The thrilling 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign has entered the knockouts, but which records are there to be broken this term, and which look way out of sight? Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's epic duopoly over multiple seasons is responsible for elevating the numbers in most of the key categories, but there are a couple of somewhat surprising figures atop two of them. Let's dive in.
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Hum the anthem, locate the passport - the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League is back for the knockout stages!
Europe's headline acts are locking horns once again for the right to write their names into the history books.
After yet another triumph for Real Madrid in 2023/24, the new format at play this season has thrown up shocks, classics and produced several memorable moments.
But if the trophy is the collective prize, then what about the individual records that stand to be broken?
We have taken a look at who leads the most significant all-time Champions League records, and discovered a few surprises...
All-time top goalscorer
An easy one to start off with. It was only ever going to be one of two players, with Cristiano Ronaldo out in front ahead of his rival for 'GOAT' status, Lionel Messi.
For the moment, this record looks unbreakable, with the two players most likely to get near it - Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland - sitting on 55 and 49 goals, respectively.
When the two locked horns in the play-off round, it was the Frenchman who came out on top, scoring a majestic hat-trick in the second leg as Real Madrid knocked out Manchester City.
This season has also seen Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski pass the 100-goal mark in the competition.
| Player | Goals (excluding qualifying) |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 140 |
| Lionel Messi | 129 |
| Robert Lewandowski* | 103 |
| Karim Benzema | 90 |
| Raul | 71 |
| Thomas Muller* | 56 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 56 |
| Kylian Mbappe* | 55 |
| Mo Salah | 51 |
| Thierry Henry | 51 |
*Still playing in this season's competition
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All-time top goalscorer in a single season
For this one, we have to go all the way back to 2013/14, when Ronaldo hit a ridiculous 17 goals as his Real Madrid side won 'La Decima' by beating city rivals Atletico in the final.
| Player | Goals in a single season |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 17, 2013/14 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 16, 2015/16 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 15, 2017/18 |
| Karim Benzema | 15, 2021/22 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 15, 2019/20 |
| Lionel Messi | 14, 2011/12 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 14, 2002/3 |
| Jose Altafini | 14, 1962/63 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 12, 2016/17 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 12, 2012/13 |
| Lionel Messi | 12, 2018/19 |
| Lionel Messi | 12, 2010/11 |
| Erling Haaland | 12, 2022/23 |
| Ferenc Puskas | 12, 1959/60 |
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All-time matches played
Another lock-out from Ronaldo, in a top 10 dominated by the competition's most successful team, Real Madrid.
| Player | Matches played (excluding qualifying) |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 183 |
| Iker Casillas | 177 |
| Lionel Messi | 163 |
| Thomas Muller* | 163 |
| Xavi | 157 |
| Toni Kroos | 153 |
| Manuel Neuer* | 152 |
| Karim Benzema | 152 |
| Ryan Giggs | 151 |
| Luka Modric | 150 |
*Still playing in this season's competition
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All-time most assists
Ronaldo leads the way yet again with Messi bumped down from second this season following Angel Di Maria's performances at Benfica.
| Top 10 | Assists (excluding qualifying) |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 42 |
| Angel Di Maria | 41 |
| Lionel Messi | 40 |
| Neymar | 33 |
| Ryan Giggs | 31 |
| Xavi, Thomas Muller* | 30 |
| Karim Benzema, Andres Iniesta, Kevin De Bruyne | 29 |
*Still playing in this season's competition
All-time most penalties scored
Another record held by Ronaldo but his supremacy is very much under threat after Lewandowski scored three times from the spot this season and needs just one more for the overall lead in this category.
Harry Kane and, surprisingly, Arsenal's Jorginho could yet add to their respective tallies between now and the end of the campaign.
| Top 11 | Penalties scored |
| Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski* | 19 |
| Lionel Messi | 18 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane* | 11 |
| Luis Figo, Jorginho* | 10 |
| Rivaldo, Thomas Muller*, Erling Haaland | 8 |
*Still playing in this season's competition
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All-time most minutes played
Another surprise! This time it is neither Ronaldo nor Messi who top this particular landmark, but instead another Real Madrid legend and three-time winner of the Champions League, Iker Casillas.
It also means that Messi doesn't top a single one of these categories - shocked face emoji!
The only active player on the current list is Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, who surpassed Messi this year to take third place, but has some way to go to catch the top two.
| Player | Minutes played |
| Iker Casillas | 16,267 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 16,189 |
| Manuel Neuer* | 13,753* |
| Lionel Messi | 13,584 |
| Sergio Ramos | 12,571 |
| Raul | 12,179 |
| Gianluigi Buffon | 12,000 |
| Toni Kroos | 11,962 |
| Paolo Maldini | 11,932 |
| Xavi | 11,851 |
*Still playing in this season's competition
All-time most red cards
We'll round out with a cheeky nod to a category that doesn't exactly come under achievements, but one you can surely guess the answer to, even if this particular Spaniard is 'leading' it jointly...
| Player | Red cards |
| Sergio Ramos, Edgar Davids, Zlatan Ibrahimovic | 4 |
| Didier Drogba, Philippe Mexes, Cristian Chivu, Vedat Inceefe, Giannis Kalitzakis, Felipe, Marcelinho, Emre Can*, Joel Veltman, Marco Verratti, Patrick Vieira, Stefan Savic, Arturo Vidal | 3 |
*Still playing in this season's competition
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