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There’s a familiar name atop the UEFA Champions League scoring charts: Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski. After his hat trick on Matchday 4 and a beautiful bicycle kick goal on Matchday 5, the Poland international has catapulted to the top of the charts, two ahead of the other hot scorer in the Champions League, Ajax Amsterdam’s Sebastien Haller.
Haller has scored in every goal that Ajax has played. He exploded for four goals in Ajax’s opening group match and then scored a goal in the next three to reach seven goals for the tournament. Both Lewandowski and Haller have reached an already impressive haul when you consider that last season’s top scorer, Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, had the best goal-scoring total of the tournament with 10.
But keep an eye out for superstars Mo Salah (Liverpool) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) who are both lurking behind the two top spots. Ronaldo scored twice on Matchday 4 to move to five goals, going even with Salah who did not find the back of the net against Atletico Madrid. RB Leipzig attacker Christopher Nkunku joins the rarefied company after scoring against PSG.
MORE: Champions League standings & results
In the chart below, the players are ranked by their goal totals beginning with the group stage. Assists are used as the first tiebreaker, and the second tiebreaker is fewest minutes played. Both are in line with the top scorer tiebreakers that European governing body UEFA implemented for the European Championships.
Champions League Top Scorers (2021-2022)
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals (PKs) | Assists | Matches | Mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 9 (1) | 1 | 5 | 349 |
| 2. | Sebastien Haller | Ajax | 7 | 1 | 4 | 353 |
| 3. | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 5 (1) | 0 | 4 | 329 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Man United | 5 | 0 | 4 | 342 | |
| Christopher Nkunku | RB Leipzig | 5 | 0 | 4 | 351 | |
| 6. | Leroy Sane | Bayern Munich | 4 | 4 | 4 | 323 |
| Riyad Mahrez | Man City | 4 (2) | 0 | 4 | 338 | |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 4 (1) | 0 | 4 | 349 | |
| 9. | Paulo Dybala | Juventus | 3 (2) | 1 | 2 | 167 |
| Hans Vanaken | Club Brugge | 3 | 1 | 3 | 270 | |
| Paulinho | Sporting CP | 3 | 1 | 4 | 317 | |
| Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | 3 | 0 | 3 | 115 | |
| Darwin Nunez | Benfica | 3 (1) | 0 | 4 | 224 | |
| Lionel Messi | PSG | 3 (1) | 0 | 3 | 270 | |
| Karim Adeyemi | RB Salzburg | 3 (2) | 0 | 4 | 303 |
Note: Total of 22 players tied with two goals scored and 86 players tied with one goal scored. There have also been eight own goals among the total of 200 scored in the tournament.
Champions League Top Scorers (since 1992-93)
Here are the top scorers for each UEFA Champions League tournament since the new format was adopted in 1992-93.
MORE: How to watch the Champions League in the USA
No surprise as to who the players are who have topped the list on most occasions: Cristiano Ronaldo has led the charts seven times, and Messi six. Their dominant run has happened in the past 14 editions of the Champions League, though neither has claimed the honor in the past two campaigns.
| Year | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Erling Haaland | B. Dortmund | 10 |
| 2019-20 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 15 |
| 2018-19 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 |
| 2017-18 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 15 |
| 2016-17 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 |
| 2015-16 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 16 |
| 2014-15 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 10 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 10 | |
| Neymar | Barcelona | 10 | |
| 2013-14 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 17 |
| 2012-13 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 12 |
| 2011-12 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 14 |
| 2010-11 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 12 |
| 2009-10 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 8 |
| 2008-09 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 9 |
| 2007-08 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Man United | 8 |
| 2006-07 | Kaka | AC Milan | 10 |
| 2005-06 | Andriy Shevchenko | AC Milan | 9 |
| 2004-05 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Man United | 8 |
| 2003-04 | Fernando Morientes | AS Monaco | 9 |
| 2002-03 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Man United | 12 |
| 2001-02 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Man United | 10 |
| 2000-01 | Raul Gonzalez | Real Madrid | 7 |
| 1999-00 | Mario Jardel | Porto | 10 |
| Rivaldo | Barcelona | 10 | |
| Raul Gonzalez | Real Madrid | 10 | |
| 1998-99 | Andriy Shevchenko | Dynamo Kyiv | 8 |
| Dwight Yorke | Man United | 8 | |
| 1997-98 | Alessandro Del Piero | Juventus | 10 |
| 1996-97 | Milinko Pantic | Atletico Madrid | 5 |
| 1995-96 | Jari Litmanen | Ajax | 9 |
| 1994-95 | George Weah | PSG | 7 |
| 1993-94 | Hristo Stoichkov | Barcelona | 5 |
| 1992-93 | Franck Sauzee | Marseille | 5 |
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