UEFA Champions League Records: Most season goals

One record which seems to be threatened every year in the UEFA Champions League is the most goals scored across a single season of the tournament.

We take a look back at the most prolific individual campaigns in the history of the European Cup and UEFA Champions League.

14 goals - Lionel Messi (2011/12)

Barcelona

Arguably at the very peak of his powers, the great Lionel Messi scored 14 goals over the course of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League campaign for Barcelona.

Hitting five goals in the group stages including a hat-trick away to Viktoria Plzen, Messi went on to notch a joint-record five goals in a single UEFA Champions League match as Barcelona trounced Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 in the second leg of their round of 16 tie.

Despite Messi's brilliance in 2011/12, Barcelona would crash out in the semi-finals of the tournament to eventual winners Chelsea.

14 goals - Jose Altafini (1962/63)

Milan

Level with the legendary Messi on 14 goals in one UEFA Champions League season is a fellow World Cup winner in the form of Brazilian striker Jose Alttafini.

Crowned a world champion with Brazil at the 1958 World Cup, Altafini also got his hands on the European Cup five years later following an incredible run in the tournament for Milan.

It's safe to say Altafini did some stat-padding during Milan's path to the first of their seven European Cup titles, registering no less than eight goals across the two legs of the Rossoneri's preliminary round 14-0 aggregate victory over Union Luxembourg.

The prolific striker went on to notch six more goals across the tournament, with Milan clinching the trophy following a 2-1 win over Eusebio-inspired Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium.

15 goals - Karim Benzema (2021/22)

Real Madrid

One of the most decorated players in Real Madrid's storied history, Karim Benzema was in sensational form as Los Blancos sealed a record-extending 14th UEFA Champions League title in 2021/22.

The Lyon academy graduate scored 10 goals in an astounding knockout phase run which saw Real Madrid navigate a way through to the final in dramatic fashion - prevailing 3-2 over Paris Saint-Germain, 5-4 over Chelsea and 6-5 over Manchester City.

Benzema did not find the net in Real's 1-0 triumph over Liverpool in the Kyiv final, with Vinicius Jr grabbing the winner, but the legendary striker did lift the trophy as team captain.

Benzema's goalscoring exploits were so impressive that the Frenchman was awarded the 2022 Ballon d'Or, the first Frenchman to win the individual gong since fellow Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane in 1998.

15 goals - Robert Lewandowski (2019/20)

Bayern Munich

Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski was the talisman of a Bayern Munich side which claimed the Bavarians' sixth UEFA Champions League title in 2019/20, scoring a total of 15 goals throughout the tournament.

10 of Lewandowski's 15 goals arrived during the group stages, grabbing four in one match as Bayern dismantled Red Star Belgrade 6-0 away from home.

The Poland international went on to fill his boots in two devastating destructions handed out by Bayern in the knockout phase - firstly hammering Chelsea 7-1 across two legs in the round of 16 before a famous 11-2 aggregate thrashing of Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

Unlike Benzema in 2022, Lewandowski was inexplicably denied the Ballon d'Or in 2020 with the awards ceremony cancelled amidst the global pandemic, despite football continuing behind closed doors.

15 goals - Cristiano Ronaldo (2017/18)
16 goals - Cristiano Ronaldo (2015/16)
17 goals - Cristiano Ronaldo (2013/14)

Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance in the UEFA Champions League is vividly highlighted by the fact he has recorded at least 15 goals in the competition in three separate seasons.

The Portuguese icon's record 17-goal campaign came in 2013/14 as Real Madrid clinched an elusive 10th UEFA Champions League title, coined 'La Decima', after a barren spell of 11 years without lifting the trophy.

The ex-Man United icon scored a hat-trick in Real's opening group stage match away at Galatasaray, racking up nine goals in five group matches.

Ronaldo then went on to score eight times in the knockout phase, including back-to-back braces in the round of 16 against Schalke before another pivotal double in the second-leg of Los Blancos' semi-finals triumph over Bayern Munich.

To cap off his record-breaking heroics, Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot as Real Madrid overcame city rivals Atletico 4-1 after extra time in the final in Lisbon.