Home of football statistics and historySecond legs of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals are upon us, with the route to the showpiece event at Wembley Stadium set to narrow down to four teams.
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As the pinnacle of European club football, the Champions League final showcases the best teams in a high-stakes showdown, forming a backdrop for top footballers to prove their value.
For players, it’s the culmination of their professional ambitions, a chance to etch their names in history and show their skills in front of a broad audience worldwide.
Getting on the scoresheet in this fixture represents the crowning achievement for every footballer.
With the stakes at an all-time high and anxiety creeping in, Champions League finals often feature low-scoring affairs, with only a select group of players earning the privilege to get their names on the board.
The fact the last four title-deciding contests have yielded an identical 1-0 scoreline substantiates the notion that even the slightest advantage can make all the difference in these crucial moments.
It was Rodri’s turn to enter the Champions League Hall of Fame last term as Manchester City squeezed past Inter Milan to win the trophy for the first time.
But who are the players who have cemented their spots in the history books, broke the records and set benchmarks for future generations?
Which player has scored most goals in Champions League finals?
To better understand the complexity of this task – only 12 players have netted more than one goal in the most heavily anticipated game in the European club football schedule.
Even with seven Ball d’Or awards to his name, former Barcelona icon Lionel Messi only scored twice, as many times as ex-Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.
In addition to Messi and Ramos, eight more players, including Raul Gonzalez, Samuel Eto’o, Mario Mandzukic and Hernan Crespo, amongst others, belong to this two-goal club.
Despite all the controversy surrounding his trophy-laden stint at the Santiago Bernabeu, history unequivocally shows Gareth Bale was worth every penny.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius might have given the Welshman a helping hand, yet it doesn’t change the fact he tallied three goals in the Champions League finals.
Bale enjoys his retirement and was recently gifted a signed jersey from NBA superstar Steph Curry, according to talkSPORT.
Speaking of superstars, one name will remain deeply embedded in football’s history books – Al-Nassr talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.
With four goals across six appearances in the Champions League finals, arguably the most prolific goalscorer to have ever graced a football pitch sits alone on his throne.
Which players have scored more than once in a Champions League final?
Considering Ronaldo’s plethora of Champions League records, would you be surprised to know he’s one of only seven players to have bagged a double in the final?
Bale, who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Portugal captain for years, is another name on this list, which also includes the likes of Diego Milito, Daniele Massaro, Filippo Inzaghi, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Crespo.
In the competition’s storied history, no player has ever scored a hat-trick in the grand final.
UEFA Women’s Champions League records
The story is slightly different in the Women’s Champions League, largely thanks to one player.
Long-serving Lyon forward Ada Hegerberg bagged a hat-trick in a 4-1 demolition of Barcelona in the 2018/19 final, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat.
In a similar way to Ronaldo in men’s football, Hegerberg has been synonymous with the Women’s Champions League, tallying a competition-high 64 goals.
The 28-year-old Norway international has racked up six goals across four different Women’s Champions League finals, a milestone unheard of before.
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