Virgil van Dijk, Erling Haaland and other superstars' choices in social media post shows Cristiano Ronaldo's impact in the UCLÂ
Cristiano Ronaldo is, undoubtedly, one of the UEFA Champions League's greatest ever players. The Portuguese legend is the all-time top scorer in the European competition with a staggering 140 goals, of which 67 came in the knockout stages.
Moreover, Ronaldo is also one of the few players to have scored for multiple clubs in the Champions League, having represented Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Ronaldo's impact is such that numerous world-class footballers, who play in the Champions League, recall his name when asked to name the first player they associate with the elite European competition.
In a recent social media post by the official account of Champions League, players like Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Riccardo Calafiori took his name for the same.
Cristiano Ronaldo's records in the UEFA Champions League
After Ronaldo's contract at Manchester United was terminated in November 2022, the Portuguese forward moved to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr and hasn't played in the UEFA Champions League since.
However, prior to his move away from Europe, he has been the most influential player in the competition. As mentioned earlier, he has scored 140 Champions League goals. The player closest to him is Lionel Messi with 129 goals.
Moreover, Ronaldo has won the competition five times and scored in three finals - a tournament record.His five trophies have come for Real Madrid (4) and Manchester United (1). At Real Madrid, he also won the Champions League three times in a row.
Between the 2007-08 and 2017-18 seasons, he was the competitions's top scorer on seven occasions. This also includes his remarkable feat of scoring 17 goals in the 2013-14 edition, when he was spearheading Real Madrid's attack.
Cristiano Ronaldo is also Real Madrid's all time top scorer in the Champions League with 105 goals in 101 appearances. Karim Benzema, with 78 goals in 133 games, is third in the list and Raul, with 66 goals in 130 fixtures, is fourth.