On Tuesday, the public saw Lionel Messi equal Cristiano Ronaldo’s 68-goal feat in the UEFA Champions League. Today, the latter could go clear of his closest rival as Raul remains the man to beat with his 71 goals.
The ex-Spanish captain, Real Madrid and Schalke striker netted his 71 goals in 142 appearances. Messi has a better ratio with 68 goals in 88 appearances only. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has been catching up on his Champions League goal ratio during the past few years, with his 17 goals last season helping him hit 68 goals in 104 games.
Champions League all-time topscorers: the top three
In his 105th UCL match, how many goals will on-fire Ronaldo clinch? Ludogorets would be honoured to frustrate and deny the Portuguese superstar in Bulgaria this Wednesday.
“There are no pushovers in the Champions League. There are teams that fight for everything, like Ludogorets. We already saw that they're tricky opponents from when they played Liverpool,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reminded in the build-up to the clash.
If Cristiano Ronaldo finds the net in Bulgaria, expect the press to go wild. In the meantime, Ancelotti allowed himself to lead praises by declaring:
“He's the best player that I've ever trained, without wanting to be disrespectful to anyone else. He's very professional player, very hard-working.
“I think that the change I see in him is that he feels more at home in this shirt. He's a leader that doesn't speak much, but he leads through all the work he puts in.”
Goalscoring ratio among the Top 10 all-time Champions League topscorers: Messi is first. Ronaldo is third. Raul is fifth. (Image by Wikipedia)
Meanwhile, continentally (Champions League + UEFA Super Cup), the topscorers chart is as follows:
- Raul: 76 goals
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 71 goals
- Inzaghi: 70 goals
- Gerd Mueller & Lionel Messi: 69 goals
The goal scoring race between active players Ronaldo and Messi is as tight and intriguing as it gets!
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