5 Greatest players to have never won the Champions League
If club football is akin to theatre, then the Champions League is the biggest platform on which you can perform. The bright lights of Europe's premier competition cause players to switch clubs all the time, in hopes of one day laying their hands on the coveted trophy. The finest players in the history of football have won this trophy, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Paul Scholes, Philipp Lahm, Ryan Bertrand(?) having won it.
If the greatest always win this competition, what about some of the greatest players that could never get a chance to dance with the trophy? They vied for it and fought hard for it, but could never get that elusive moment of jubilation and victory. Let's look at the 5 greatest footballers to never win the UEFA Champions League.
Honourable mentions: Francesco Totti, Patrick Vieira, George Weah and Robert Pires
#5 Fabio Cannavaro
Teams represented in UCL: Internazionale, Juventus, Real Madrid and Parma
He has won league titles, a Ballon d'Or and even the FIFA World Cup. He has been a Galactico also, but he has never been a champion of European club football. Even though he represented minnows Parma in one season, he has had stints with the greatest European teams at the peak of their powers.
His greatest run in the competition came with the blue side of Milan when he reached the semi-finals in 2003 to be dumped out of the competition unceremoniously against the red side of Milan.
An away goals loss at the San Siro (ironic) meant that Cannavaro would never be closer to winning the trophy than he was that year. Even though he went on to play for the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus after that, he still could never capture the elusive trophy.