Ranking the 5 oldest goalscorers in UEFA Champions League history
The UEFA Champions League has been graced by a plethora of world-class players over the years.
Speaking of goalscorers in the Champions League, the first two names that come to mind are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. They have won nine Champions League titles between them. Still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30, they are the only two players to score over 100 goals in the competition.
Apart from Ronaldo and Messi, the Champions League has also had other players aged 30 or above who have scored in the competition. On that note, here's a look at the five oldest goalscorers in Champions League history.
Note: All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.
#5 Laurent Blanc - 36 years, 338 days (2002)
Laurent Blanc was one of the best goalscoring center-backs of his era. The 55-year-old played a key role in France's 1998 FIFA World Cup campaign on home soil.
Blanc, though, played only two seasons in the Champions League, all for Manchester United, scoring three times. His third strike in the competition, in a group game in the 2002-03 season, made him the oldest scorer in the Champions League.
Laurent Blanc: “I played against him when he first came to Europe to play for Paris Saint-Germain in 2001 and even then you could tell he would one day become the best player in the world.” https://t.co/AyPBGXIgFs
The Frenchman would later be surpassed by four other players over the next two decades, though.
#4 Javier Zanetti - 37 years, 70 days
Javier Zanetti is one of the oldest scorers in the Champions League. He scored only twice in almost 100 games spanning 11 seasons in the competition, all for Inter Milan.
The Argentine's second strike in the competition - in a 4-3 win against Tottenham Hotspur in 2010-11 - made him the oldest scorer in Champions League history. That game saw a certain Gareth Bale announce himself with a breathtaking hat-trick; his effort came in a losing cause, though.
4⃣FOUR DAYS TO GO4⃣
Javier Zanetti captained Inter when they won the 2010 #UCLfinal https://t.co/RaEMToaD3H
Zanetti's finest hour in the Champions League came a few months prior to his last goal in the competition, when he captained Inter Milan to the 2010 title against Bayern Munich in the final.