Champions League Top Scorers by Season
By Tom Gott
The Champions League is the playground for the best in the world - the crème de la crème of football. For any striker, finishing as the top scorer in that competition is one of the highest honours.
Since the competition was first rebranded in 1992, we've seen a real who's who of talent finish as a Champions League top scorer, as well as one or two names which might come as somewhat of a surprise.
Here's every Champions League top scorer ever.
1. 1992/93 - Romario (7)
Leading the way in the first Champions League tournament was Brazilian icon Romario, who bagged seven goals for PSV Eindhoven to beat Marco van Basten, Franck Sauzee and Alen Boksic.
To make it more impressive, PSV didn't actually win a game in the group stage. Instead, Romario had to get his goalscoring done in the first knockout rounds.
2. 1993/94 - Ronald Koeman & Wynton Rufer (8)
Yep, that Ronald Koeman, the centre-back.
The Dutchman was the driving force behind Barcelona's run to the final, where they were emphatically thumped 4-0 by AC Milan.
His failure to score in that game meant Koeman had to share the prize with Werder Bremen forward Wynton Rufer.
3. 1994/95 - George Weah (7)
Weah won the Ballon d'Or in 1995, and his seven-goal haul in the Champions League during his time with PSG probably played a large part of that.
The highlight of the bunch was a brilliant solo goal against Bayern Munich, which helped earn him a move to AC Milan in the summer of 1995.
4. 1995/96 - Jari Litmanen (9)
Ajax star Jari Litmanen ran away with the top scorer's prize in 1995/96, finishing three goals clear of Alessandro Del Piero, Raul and Krzysztof Warzycha.
The Finland international bagged Ajax's equaliser in the final and scored his penalty in the resulting shoot-out, but that still wasn't enough to topple Juventus.
5. 1996/97 - Milinko Pantic (5)
1996/97 was a slow year for goalscorers, with Atletico Madrid's Milinko Pantic leading the way with a paltry tally of just five goals.
The creative midfielder was never really known for his goals, finishing his Atleti career with 35 goals in 131 games, but this was obviously a good year for him.
6. 1997/98 - Alessandro Del Piero (10)
The first to ever hit double figures in a Champions League campaign, Juventus star Alessandro Del Piero romped to the prize with relative ease.
A hat-trick in the semi-final against Monaco was the highlight of the campaign for Del Piero, whose Juventus side came up short in the final against Real Madrid.
7. 1998/99 - Andriy Shevchenko & Dwight Yorke (8)
One of the biggest stories of the 1998/99 tournament was the emergence of Dynamo Kyiv striker Andriy Shevchenko, who led the Ukranian side to the semi-final and was unlucky not to go even further.
Instead, the final was saved for Dwight Yorke and Manchester United. The striker bagged eight goals en route to the final, but left the late heroics to Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the day.
8. 1999/00 - Raul, Rivaldo & Mario Jardel (10)
Remember when it used to be hard to bag ten goals?
Leading the way was Porto's Mário Jardel, who managed his ten despite crashing out in the quarter-final. He was closely followed by Rivaldo, whose Barcelona side managed a run to the semis.
The final man to join the fun was Raúl, who bagged his tenth in the final as Real Madrid picked up a 3-0 win over Valencia.
9. 2000/01 - Raul (7)
After sharing the honours a year earlier, Raul was the sole winner in 2000/01, despite only managing seven goals this time around.
He drew a blank in the semi-final, which allowed eventual winners Bayern Munich to fly through to the final at Real Madrid's expense.
10. 2001/02 - Ruud van Nistelrooy (10)
In what was a dominant year for Manchester United star Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Dutchman led the way with ten Champions League goals and even finished top of the assist charts with five as well.
The Red Devils came unstuck in the semi-final against the Bayer Leverkusen side who finished as runners-up in Europe, the Bundesliga and DfB-Pokal. The most unwanted treble in history.
11. 2002/03 - Ruud van Nistelrooy (12)
AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi had his sights set on the top scorer's prize, but Van Nistelrooy reached a new level and finished two goals clear to claim the trophy for the second year in a row.
He needed just nine games to reach that total, scoring in every single match in which he played that year. Decent.
12. 2003/04 - Fernando Morientes (9)
Discarded by Real Madrid, Fernando Morientes went out on loan to Monaco for the 2003/04 season and proceeded to score the goal which knocked Los Blanos out at the quarter-final stage.
The Spaniard combined with Dado Prso to lead Monaco all the way to final, where Jose Mourinho's Porto put an end to the fun.
13. 2004/05 - Ruud van Nistelrooy (8)
The 2004/05 tournament was a forgettable one for United, who crashed out in the last 16 at the hands of AC Milan.
Van Nistelrooy didn't score in either leg and instead managed all of his eight goals in the group stage, firing four past Sparta Prague in just one game.
14. 2005/06 - Andriy Shevchenko (9)
In his final season with Milan, Shevchenko led Europe with a whopping 12 goals, and so nearly had a 13th.
The Ukraine legend headed a late goal in the semi-final against Barcelona which would have put Milan through on away goals, only for the strike to be controversially ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
15. 2006/07 - Kaka (10)
2006/07 was Kaka's year. Everything the Brazilian touched turned to gold, and he was utterly unstoppable as he led Milan to another Champions League title.
Manchester United will still have nightmares about Kaka, who bagged three against Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the semi-final.
16. 2007/08 - Cristiano Ronaldo (8)
A word of advice: remember Cristiano Ronaldo's name. You're going to be hearing it a lot on this list.
Then with United, it was Ronaldo's header which gave them the lead over Chelsea in the final, although his missed penalty in the shoot-out nearly undid all his hard work.
17. 2008/09 - Lionel Messi (9)
Another name to remember, Lionel Messi began his emergence as one of the greatest ever in 2008/09, leading Europe with nine Champions League goals.
He got most of his work done in the group stage but still managed to pop up with a header in the final against United - a game which is fondly remembered as one of Messi's finest.
18. 2009/10 - Lionel Messi (8)
On the subject of Messi's finest games, it's hard not to mention his four-goal haul in the 4-1 win over Arsenal in the quarter-final of the 2009/10 season.
He only scored in three other games, two of which were in the group stage, before being dispatched by Mourinho's Inter in the semis.
19. 2010/11 - Lionel Messi (12)
We're now at a point where anything less than double figures isn't worth talking about.
Messi bagged no fewer than 12 goals in 2010/11, including two against Arsenal and two against Real Madrid, and his role in the memorable 3-1 win over United in the final won't be forgotten anytime soon.
20. 2011/12 - Lionel Messi (14)
Just the 14 goals for Messi this year, and his Barcelona side didn't even reach the final.
Five goals in a 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen certainly helped his cause, but he failed to break down Chelsea's wall in the semi-final, hitting the bar with a penalty, and had to watch as the Blues went on to lift the trophy.
21. 2012/13 - Cristiano Ronaldo (12)
And here's where the Ronaldo party really starts.
The Real Madrid man managed 12 goals in as many games, including one in both meetings with former employers United in the last 16, but a stunning collapse against Borussia Dortmund in the semis ended the fun there.
22. 2013/14 - Cristiano Ronaldo (17)
17.
17.
What makes this even crazier than it already is is that Ronaldo actually missed two games in the season and failed to score in another, so his goals all came across just ten matches.
23. 2014/15 - Lionel Messi, Neymar & Cristiano Ronaldo (10)
How's that for a collection of talent?
We'll start with Ronaldo, whose Real side fell to Juventus in the semis despite a goal from Ronaldo in both legs.
However, his accomplishment was overshadowed by Barcelona duo Messi and Neymar, who both bagged ten goals as Barça cruised to yet another title, with Neymar particularly stealing the show late on.
24. 2015/16 - Cristiano Ronaldo (16)
16 goals? Pathetic.
This year, Ronaldo's goals largely came in bulk: four against Malmö, three against Shakhtar Donetsk and another three against Wolfsburg.
He completely overwhelmed the rest of the competition, although he was quiet in the final as Los Blancos managed to beat Atlético Madrid on penalties.
25. 2016/17 - Cristiano Ronaldo (12)
Ronaldo led Real to yet another title in the 2016/17 season, and he did so with a comparatively modest 12 goals.
It had actually been a quiet tournament for Ronaldo, who had just two goals to his name by the time the quarter-final arrived.
He bagged five across two legs against Bayern Munich before hitting another hat-trick against Atlético in the semis, and a double in the final was the perfect cherry on the cake.
26. 2017/18 - Cristiano Ronaldo (15)
Another year, another top scorer prize and another Champions League title for Ronaldo.
Unlike previous years, the Portugal international's stream of goals was pretty steady. He scored in his first ten games of the competition, but his scoring was done by the time the semi-final arrived.
27. 2018/19 - Lionel Messi (12)
The 2018/19 tournament started off so well for Messi. In fact, up until the second leg of the semi-final, it was all perfect. Messi had bagged 12 goals against the likes of PSV, Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.
He looked set to lead Barça to another title... only for Divock Origi to spoil the day in the most spectacular fashion!
28. 2019/20 - Robert Lewandowski (15)
Breaking the reign of dominance shared by Ronaldo and Messi was Bayern's Robert Lewandowski, whose 15 goals had him five ahead of Dortmund's Erling Haaland in second place.
The Poland international only failed to score in one of his appearances in the Champions League, the final, but a slow day at the office for Lewandowski didn't stop Bayern from lifting the trophy at PSG's expense.