This is the record for most goals scored in a single UCL season. Cristiano Ronaldo got 17 goals in 2013–14.
Some of the best players in the world play in the UEFA Champions League, and every season, these greats score a lot of goals for the fans.
The UCL Golden Boot is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in each season of Europe’s top club tournament. Past winners include Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferenc Puskas, Johan Cruyff, and Gerd Muller.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 140 goals in 183 games, making him the top scorer in UCL history. He also scored 17 goals in a single UCL season, which is the record.
The best season for Cristiano Ronaldo was the 2013–14 season, when he scored an amazing 17 goals for Real Madrid. The previous record was 14 goals, which was shared by Lionel Messi and Jose Altafini together.
Jose Altafini of AC Milan scored 14 goals in the 1962–63 season, which was the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season. It had been held by Altafini until 2011–12, when Lionel Messi of Barcelona tied the record.
The most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season
Player | Team | Goals | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 17 | 2013-14 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 16 | 2015-16 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 15 | 2017-18 |
Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 15 | 2019-20 |
Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 15 | 2021-22 |
Jose Altafini | AC Milan | 14 | 1962-63 |
Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 14 | 2011-12 |
Ferenc Puskas | Real Madrid | 12 | 1959-60 |
Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United | 12 | 2002-03 |
Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 | 2010-11 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 | 2012-13 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 | 2016-17 |
Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 | 2018-19 |
Who has the most champions league appearances
A small group of 48 players have accumulated 100 or more appearances since the Champions League’s founding in 1992; Real Madrid favourite Raúl González first in February 2006. Since then, Xavi Hernández, Karim Benzema, Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos, and front-runner Ronaldo have passed the 150-mark in an even more exclusive set of seven stars.
On October 1, 2003, Ronaldo’s first game in the Champions League proper was a 2-1 loss at Stuttgart, the then 18-year-old drawing a penalty. Reaching his century eleven years later on the same evening as Frank Lampard, he was a Real Madrid player. The 183 Portuguese visits overall have come in 19 Champions League seasons.
Leading appearances in the competition are dominated by former Real Madrid and Barcelona players. Only five of the top 20 did not eventually reflect one of the big rivals: one-club men Ryan Giggs, Thomas Müller and Paul Scholes, plus goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and Gianluigi Buffon.
Appearances in the Champions League all-times
UEFA Champions League All-Time Goal Scorers
Rank | Player | Country | Total Goals | Club Breakdown |
1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | POR | 183 | Manchester United: 59, Real Madrid: 101, Juventus: 23 |
2 | Iker Casillas | ESP | 177 | Real Madrid: 150, Porto: 27 |
3 | Lionel Messi | ARG | 163 | Barcelona: 149, Paris Saint-Germain: 14 |
4 | Thomas Müller | GER | 156 | Bayern München: 156 |
5 | Karim Benzema | FRA | 152 | Lyon: 19, Real Madrid: 133 |
6 | Toni Kroos | GER | 151 | Bayern München: 41, Real Madrid: 110 |
7 | Xavi Hernández | ESP | 151 | Barcelona: 151 |
8 | Manuel Neuer | GER | 145 | Schalke: 22, Bayern München: 123 |
9 | Raúl González | ESP | 142 | Real Madrid: 130, Schalke: 12 |
10 | Sergio Ramos | ESP | 142 | Real Madrid: 129, Paris Saint-Germain: 8, Sevilla: 5 |
11 | Ryan Giggs | WAL | 141 | Manchester United: 141 |
12 | Luka Modrić | CRO | 134 | Tottenham: 8, Real Madrid: 126 |
13 | Andrés Iniesta | ESP | 130 | Barcelona: 130 |
14 | Sergio Busquets | ESP | 129 | Barcelona: 129 |
15 | Gerard Piqué | ESP | 128 | Manchester United: 4, Barcelona: 124 |
16 | Robert Lewandowski | POL | 126 | Dortmund: 28, Bayern: 78, Barcelona: 20 |
17 | Clarence Seedorf | NED | 125 | Ajax: 11, Real Madrid: 25, Milan: 89 |
18 | Gianluigi Buffon | ITA | 124 | Parma: 6, Juventus: 113, Paris Saint-Germain: 5 |
19 | Paul Scholes | ENG | 124 | Manchester United: 124 |
20 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | SWE | 124 | Ajax: 19, Juventus: 19, Inter: 22, Barcelona: 10, Milan: 20, Paris Saint-Germain: 33, Manchester United: 1 |
21 | Roberto Carlos | BRA | 120 | Real Madrid: 107, Fenerbahçe: 13 |
22 | Pepe | POR | 120 | Real Madrid: 71, Beşiktaş: 6, Porto: 43 |
23 | Xabi Alonso | ESP | 119 | Real Sociedad: 8, Liverpool: 39, Real Madrid: 47, Bayern München: 25 |
Ronaldo scored 17 goals in 2013–14
A record seven times, Cristiano Ronaldo has been the top scorer in the UCL. His first Golden Boot-winning season was in 2007–08. But the 2013–14 season stands out.
REMINDER: Cristiano Ronaldo, the man deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester United a year ago by Erik Ten Hag, has scored 50 goals for club & country in 2023. The most by any professional footballer in the world. @Cristiano pic.twitter.com/7MKoFDXHTJ
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 12, 2023
That season, the Portuguese star scored 17 goals to help Real Madrid win the league title.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick against Galatasaray to start his record. He then scored six more goals to help Real Madrid win group B. The legendary Portuguese player scored four more goals in the round of 16, one in the quarterfinal, two in the semifinals, and one more in the final against Atletico Madrid to cap off a great season.
During the season, Ronaldo also set up five goals.
Ronaldo scored 16 goals in 2015–16.
After setting a lot of records in 2013–14, Ronaldo scored a lot of goals again in 2015–16, helping Real Madrid win the UCL title for the second time.
The star scorer got off to a great start to the season by scoring a hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk. He then scored eight more goals in the group stage, including four against Malmo.
In the round of 16, Ronaldo scored two goals. In the quarterfinals, he scored three goals. He didn’t score in the semifinals or final, but he made the difference-making penalty kick against Atletico in the title game.
Ronaldo scored 15 goals in 2017–18.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 15 goals to help Real Madrid win the title in 2017–18. This made him the third player in UEFA Champions League history to score 15 goals in a single season.
The last time Cristiano Ronaldo scored 50+ goals in a year was in 2017. He ended the year with 53 goals.
— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) December 12, 2023
He's currently on 50 goals with 3 games left to play. 👀 pic.twitter.com/xP64ARDfbG
Ronaldo scored twice in the first game of the season against APOEL. He scored nine goals in the group stage. On top of that, he scored three more in the pre-quarters and four more in the quarter-finals.
Even though Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t score in the semifinals or final, he did score in 10 other games that season.
Robert Lewandowski has scored 15 goals so far in 2019–20.
In 2019–20, Bayern Munich won the European title, and Robert Lewandowski’s 15 goals were a big part of that.
There were nine goals scored by Lewandowski in the group stage, including a hat-trick against Red Star Belgrade. This helped the Bavarians finish first with a goal difference of +19.
Before the final, the Polish forward scored six more goals. It was nine games that he scored, which was close to Ronado’s record of ten games scored in a single UCL season.
Lewandowski didn’t score in the final against Paris Saint-Germain, but he did set up six goals, which tied him for the most in that season.
Karim Benzema scored 15 goals in 2021–22.
Used to play for Real Madrid Karim Benzema didn’t have the best start to the season. In six group-stage games, he only got five goals. But it was the knockouts where the Frenchman really shone.
He scored a hat trick to beat PSG in the round of 16 and then scored four more goals over two games against Chelsea in the quarterfinals. The forward got three more goals in the semifinals and final, giving him a total of 15 for the season.
Related Article:
- The ten players who have set up the most goals in Champions League history.
- UEFA Champions League schedule 2023-2024: When do UCL games happen next season?
- Champions Game objective histories: The majority of racked up in a season, in a match, as well as enduring in UCL record.
- The Ultimate Scorer: Leading Goal-Getter in UEFA Champions League History”
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