Lionel Messi has the best goal per game ratio in Champions League among active footballers...
Despite Manchester United's 2-1 loss to Young Boys, Cristiano Ronaldo increased his goals' tally to 135 as he opened the scoring against the Swiss club on his second Champions League debut for the Red Devils on Tuesday.
Ronaldo is the all-time highest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League followed by his close rival Lionel Messi who has 120 goals to his name so far. Messi, despite scoring 15 goals less than the Portuguese, has superior goals per game ratio as the Argentine has played 150 matches compared to Ronaldo's 177.
The PSG star has the highest goalscoring ratio in the Champions League among the current lot of players followed by Ronaldo and Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski who has 75 goals in 97 matches with a 0.76 goals ratio which is similar to Ronaldo's.
But the player who enjoys the highest goals per game ratio in the competition's history is Germany and Bayern Munich legend the late Gerd Muller. The forward scored 34 goals in 35 appearances in the Champions for Bayern Munich with a goal ratio of 0.97.
Muller is followed by former Real Madrid star Ferenc Puskas who scored 36 goals in 41 appearances. Messi has the sixth-highest goal scoring ratio in Europe's biggest stage followed by Ronaldo in the seventh position and Lewandowski in the eighth.
Here, we take a look at the top 10 players who have the highest goals per game ratio in the history of the Champions League.
No. | Player | Goals | Matches | Goal ratio | Clubs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gerd Muller | 34 | 35 | 0.97 | Bayern Munich |
2 | Ferenc Puskas | 36 | 41 | 0.88 | Budepest Honvest (1), Real Madrid (36) |
3 | Jose Altafini | 24 | 28 | 0.86 | AC Milan (20), Juventus (4) |
4 | Alfredo Di Stefano | 49 | 58 | 0.84 | Real Madrid |
5 | Lionel Messi | 120 | 149 | 0.81 | FC Barcelona |
6 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | 56 | 73 | 0.77 | PSV Eindhoven (8), Manchester United (35), Real Madrid (13) |
7 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 135 | 177 | 0.76 | Manchester United (16), Real Madrid (105), Juventus (14) |
8 | Robert Lewandowski | 75 | 97 | 0.76 | Borussia Dortmund (17), Bayern Munich (58) |
9 | Jean-Pierre Papin | 28 | 37 | 0.76 | Marseille (19), AC Milan (7), Bayern Munich (2) |
10 | Eusebio | 46 | 65 | 0.71 | Benfica |