5 Italian players with the most goals in Champions League history
Despite historically performing exceptionally well in the UEFA Champions League, Serie A clubs have fallen behind their English and Spanish counterparts in the 21st century. In the last 15 years, Italian sides have won just two Champions League crowns (AC Milan in 2007 and Inter Milan in 2010).
Notwithstanding their extended lean patch, AC Milan remain the second-most successful team in the history of the Champions League, with seven titles (behind Real Madrid's 13). Inter Milan (three-time champions) and Juventus (two triumphs) are also multi-time winners of Europe's most prestigious club competition.
2007 final: the other time Milan met Liverpool in UEFA competition 
🔴⚫️ 2007 final: the other time Milan met Liverpool in UEFA competition 🏆
@acmilan | #UCL https://t.co/9w3hkENJAB
Italian forwards haven't set the UEFA Champions League on fire in the 21st century
The Italian national team and Serie A are traditionally known for their defensive solidity, physicality and aggression.
So it isn't surprising to see that the last time an Italian player topped the Champions League scoring charts was nearly 25 years ago, when Alessandro Del Piero scored ten goals in 1997-98. AC Milan's win in 2007 was the most recent time the tournament's top scorer hailed from a Serie A team, with Kaka scoring ten times.
Nonetheless, numerous Italian strikers have consistently delivered the goods for their teams in the late 20th century. On that note, here's a look at the five highest Italian goalscorers in UEFA Champions League history:
#5 Simeone Inzaghi (15 goals in 31 appearances)
Inter Milan head coach and younger brother of legendary striker Filippo Inzaghi, Simone Inzaghi was a crafty forward himself and enjoyed a solid playing career. Most of his playing days were spent with Lazio, where he won seven trophies. That includes the memorable 1999-00 season when Lazio won the Serie A title, the Italian Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
14/03 - #OnThisDay in 2000 against Marseille, Simone Inzaghi became the first Italian player to score four goals in a Champions League match. Show. https://t.co/Iv3Bq4iFqn
Inzaghi scored 55 goals in 196 games for Lazio, while his best performance in the Champions League came in 1999-00, when he scored nine times in 11 games.
He was capped thrice by Italy but never managed to find the net for the national side. Interestingly, Inzaghi is the first and only Italian player to have scored four goals in a single UEFA Champions League game.
#4 Francesco Totti and Sandro Mazzola (17 goals)
Fourth place on the list sees a tie between two one-club legends - Francesco Totti (785 games, 307 goals and 186 assists) of AS Roma and Sandro Mazzola (565 games and 162 goals) of Inter Milan.
Mazzola was the more prolific of the duo, taking 38 games to reach his tally of 17 goals, but Totti also provided 12 assists in his 57 UEFA Champions League fixtures. Mazzola, though, won the coveted trophy twice with Inter Milan (1964 and 1965) and also finished as the top scorer in the 1964 edition (seven goals, including two in the final against Real Madrid).
Sandro Mazzola struck twice when @inter prevailed 3-1 against Madrid in the 1964 showpiece - uefa.to/1a5VKVZ http://t.co/mdYOEseuGb
Totti never won the UEFA Champions League, although he did secure a Serie A title in 2001 with Roma. He finished as the league's top scorer in 2006-07 (26 goals).
The duo also achieved success on the international stage. Mazzola was part of Italy's Euro 1968 triumph, while Totti won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with the Azzurri. Totti scored nine times in 58 international games, while Mazzola netted 22 goals in 70 games for Italy.