Champions League Best Ever... Players, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

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  • Cristiano Ronaldo

    The two sides entering the Metropolitano Stadium on June 1 can legitimately be pinned up against some of the great European sides witnessed during the competition’s rich history.

    Ahead of this blockbuster encounter between Tottenham and Liverpool we’re running a series on Europe’s elite competition called the ‘Best Ever…’ and on this occasion we’re examining the greatest players to have graced the tournament.

    Trimming the list down to five is an enormously tricky task and any one of the five picked hold claim to top spot.

    But here is our look at the five best European Cup/Champions League players.

    1. CRISTIANO RONALDO

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    Club football’s grandest competition boasts a grandee without compare, in Ronaldo.

    The Portugal icon is a five-time Champions League winner. Only fellow Real Madrid legend Francisco ‘Paco’ Gento has more with six (1956-60 and 1965/66, when it was called the European Cup).

    His 126 goals and 34 assists lead the way in both categories. Incredibly, he didn’t bag until his 30th Champions League appearance.

    We are also, distinctly, not talking about a flat-track bully.

    A tally of 65 strikes in 79 knockout-stage appearances points to an incredible potency. The 34-year-old also became the first footballer to smash through the 50-goal barrier at the deep end.

    When it comes to finals, he’s also in a league of his own. His 2017/18 brace against – current employers – Juventus and 2013/14’s late penalty versus neighbours Atletico Madrid, plus a fine header for Manchester United against Chelsea in 2007/08, has made him the only man to score in three deciders since the 1992/93 rebrand to the UCL.

    The moniker ‘Mr Champions League’ would be ill-fitting on anyone else.

    2. ALFREDO DI STEFANO

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    The shining light and greatest influence on the tournament’s early kings.

    Buenos Aires-born Di Stefano was one of just three players – including Gento and Jose Maria Zarraga – to play a part in all five opening victories for Madrid.

    Unlike the other two, Saeta Rubia (Blond Arrow) sensationally scored in each one. This unprecedented run culminated in 1959/60’s hat-trick during the 7-3 demolition of Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt, which is still considered the competition’s defining team performance.

    The versatile forward’s unparalleled exploits in the European Cup helped make him a two-time Ballon d’Or winner and a fourth-placed finisher in France Football’s voting for Football Player of the 20th Century.

    He was named Honorary President of Los Blancos in 2000 and died aged 88-years old in the Spanish capital on July 7, 2014. We may not see his like again.

    3. FRANCISCO ‘PACO’ GENTO

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    It takes a special footballer to hold a record for more than half a century.

    Francisco ‘Paco’ Gento certainly merits this exalted description. The lightning-quick left winger – or contemporarily an outside left – provided a dynamic presence in the Real Madrid side that swept all before them from 1956-60, plus boasts a longevity that saw him usher a new generation towards success in the 1965/66 edition against Yugoslavia’s Partizan Belgrade.

    This sixth triumph, 53 years and counting, makes Spain-international Gento the singularly most-successful performer in the European Cup/Champions League’s storied history. Some achievement.

    Remarkably, this tally could have been even greater. He is the only player to have played in the European Cup for 15 consecutive seasons, and he was present for showpiece defeats against Eusebio-inspired Benfica in 1961/62 and Helenio Herrera’s Inter Milan during 1963/64.

    4. LIONEL MESSI

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    Messi’s unalloyed greatness has, unsurprisingly, touched his stellar performances in the Champions League.

    Across 15 campaigns with Barcelona, the iconic Argentina forward has netted 112 times in 135 run-outs to sit second on the all-time list. He is also a four-time winner of the competition, registering in the 2008/09 and 2010/11/ demolitions of Manchester United and performing a prominent role against Juventus in 2014/15 – injury denied him a berth in 2005/06’s final triumph against Arsenal.

    September 18’s group-stage hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven was his eighth in the UCL – this represents a competition record. He was mesmeric against Liverpool in the first-leg of their semi-final tie this term but ultimately missed out on an elusive fifth title.

    Arch-competitor Cristiano Ronaldo currently has more Champions League goals and wins. But it is the vast promise of a still vibrant future for the 31-year-old Messi, in comparison to his slowing Portuguese nemesis, that could see him march up this list.

    5. PAOLO MALDINI

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    Longevity defines Maldini’s extraordinary success in the Champions League.

    The consummate AC Milan defender’s eight final appearances (winning five, losing three) were experienced across three decades. Of this octet, clean sheets were recorded by the one-club man in half of them.

    The now 50-year-old’s sensational career straddled several eras, calling some of the sport’s most-eminent figures team-mates along the way.

    There was 1988/89’s 4-0 victory against Steaua Bucharest when Netherlands legends Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten netted braces, 1993/94’s unforgettable 4-0 routing of Barcelona’s fabled ‘Dream Team’ even with a side ravaged by injury and 2002/03’s shootout triumph against fellow Italians Juventus in which Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko netted the decisive penalty.

    Liverpool also hold a notable place in Maldini’s memory bank. From the crushing low of 2004/05’s showpiece defeat from three-goals up, to 2006/07’s redemptive 2-1 victory that earned a fifth – and final – title.

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