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UEFA Champions League – Five Greatest Players of all time

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With the current international tournament for the Euro and AFCON qualifiers shutting all club football, we’ve decided to put together a piece on the UEFA Champions League.

This tournament is considered Europe’s most prestigious and elite club football competition. The UEFA Champions League brings together top clubs from across Europe to compete against each other in a tournament that stretches through several months.

On the other hand, the UEFA Champions League is known for its quality football, featuring some of the world’s most elite players and teams. On the financial aspect, the tournament is also highly lucrative, with large sums of money at stake for the winning teams.

That being said, www.oddstobeton.com has put together five of the greatest UEFA Champions League players of all time.

#5 Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini has been considered, by many, to be one of the greatest footballers of all time. Maldini’s success in the UEFA Champions League is also well-documented. Maldini, who now serves as AC Milan’s technical director, spent his entire professional career at this club, where he won an impressive five Champions League titles.

Maldini then was widely known for his strong defense and leadership qualities. The Italian man captained the club during their successful seasons in the UEFA Champions League competition.

His long-term reign and consistency at the highest level of the game, with brilliant performances during Milan’s trophy haul, make him a true legend for the club and in the Champions League tournament.

#4 Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema can be considered as a reigning UEFA Champions League greatest of all time. The former French international played a key role in Real Madrid’s dominance in the Champions League in the last decade. His current side was drawn on the 17th of March 2023 to play Chelsea as they progressed into the quarter-final. The event will take place at home for Benzema at the Santiago Bernabeu on 12/04/2023 at 19:00 UTC. With this, Benzema will be looking forward to adding more to his numbers in the tournament as we’ve seen bookmarkers in the likes of bet365 champions league odds place Real Madrid as favourites to win the game at @ 1.77.

Benzema was instrumental in his side’s triumphant 2021-22 Champions League season run. He netted two hat-tricks and bagged two braces in the knockout stages of the tournament last season which saw Madrid cruise to another European glory to make it the club’s 13 Champions League title.

Benzema, who has won the Champions League five times throughout his career, has 89 goals in the Champions League to his name so far. By ranking, Benzema sits fourth as the prestigious tournament highest scorer.

#3 Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, all of his success in the Champions League triumphs came during his time playing for Barcelona, is widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time. The Argentine has enjoyed great success in this tournament and has won the title four times in his career.

Messi, in this league, has an incredible 129 goals to his name. He was a key player for Barcelona during the club’s most successful period in the European tournament.

His ability to score crucial goals when needed the most coupled with his creative playmaking skills has earned him the title of the most feared player in the history of the competition.

Messi, however, has not found much joy since joining Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal. The French side has been eliminated in the Round of 16 in the last two seasons with Messi in their team. Messi has been touted for a return to Barcelona and should this happen, his glory days in the prestigious tournament might just be about to restart.

#2 Luka Modric

Luka Modric undeniably has been one of the most consistent and influential players in the Champions League over the past decade. More like Benzema, the Croatian midfielder also played a crucial role in Real Madrid’s dominance in the tournament and he has to his name five titles with the Los Blancos.

Being a key player for Real Madrid, Modric’s technical abilities, vision and passing range as a midfielder has been second to none. The 37-year-old veteran midfielder’s brilliant performances in the Champions League have been well-documented for the club’s success in recent years.

These brilliant performances earned him the UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season twice in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Champions League seasons. Modric’s contribution to Real Madrid’s triumphant road to success in the tournament has placed him as one of the best midfielders of all time both club and country.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo

There is no one else we are ending who the greatest UEFA Champions League players of all time are if not Cristiano Ronaldo who has been dubbed ‘Mr. Champions League‘. The Portuguese legend, who no longer plies his trade in Europe, is going down as the most successful player in the UEFA Champions League.

Ronaldo, with both Manchester United and Real Madrid, has won the title five times with three brilliant attempts in making it six with Juventus.

Furthermore, the former Manchester United forward has been the competition’s top scorer seven times, with his record of 140 goals currently the most in the tournament’s history. Aside from these numbers, the Portuguese, who now plays for Al-Nassr FC, has featured in some of the greatest moments and comebacks in the history of the Champions League, single-handedly guarding his side to finals and scoring goals in crucial knockout matches.

All these great achievements in the tournament, due to his combination of speed, power, and finishing ability which is second to none, made him a nightmare for defenders in the competition. We are yet to see a player with such a great caliber of success in the Champions League as Ronaldo, who with his ability came up on the biggest stage to make him one of the all-time greats.

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