Ronaldo & Messi dominate 

©TM/IMAGO

The new Champions League format, which was brought in last season, is still met with mixed reviews from supporters around Europe, but one thing that it has guaranteed is more games. Which usually means more goals. There are eight games in the new league phase – two more than in the previous group stage – as well as a play-off round which adds a further 16 matches. And many attacking players have been taking advantage of the opportunity to find the net on more occasions. None more so than Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé.

The Frenchman scored a brace against his former side Monaco in an emphatic 6-1 Madrid win in the Champions League this Tuesday to take his tally to 11 scored in this season’s competition. Remarkably, those goals have come in just six games. And it means Mbappé may already have his sights set on breaking the record for the most goals scored in a single Champions League campaign. However, he’s still got some work to do. Let’s take a look at where he ranks and see the top 10 players with the most goals in a single Champions League season.

Most goals scored in a Champions League season

Leading the way is the competition’s all-time top goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese legend scored as many as 17 goals in the 2013/14 campaign as Real Madrid went on to win ‘La Decima’ – their 10th Champions League trophy. Incredibly, Ronaldo also takes both second and third place, having scored 16 goals in the 2015/16 season and 15 goals in the 2017/18 campaign. Fourth goes to Robert Lewandowski who scored 15 goals for Bayern Munich in the 2019/20 season, whilst Karim Benzema scored 15 times for Los Blancos in 2021/22.

The magician, Lionel Messi takes sixth position, having scored 14 times in the 2011/12 season, but the Argentine’s Barcelona did not win the Champions League that term. Lewandowski is back in seventh, having scored 12 in 2021/22. Barca’s Raphinha and Borussia Dortmund Serhou Guirassy take eighth and ninth, having both scored 13 goals last term. Mbappé is already 17th on the list with his 11 goals and could have as many as 10 more games if Madrid were to drop into the play-offs and then make it all the way to the final.