UEFA Champions League: Most UEFA Champions League appearances

The pinnacle of club football, the UEFA Champions League over the years has been the making of a number of the sport's legends.

Here we look at the top 10 appearance makers in UEFA Champions League history.

9= - Raul (144)

One of the UEFA Champions League's most lethal goalscorers, Raul spent 16 years with Real Madrid, lifting the UEFA Champions League twice.

After coming through the academy, Raul became an indispensable member of the Real side, even during their Galacticos era. While the arrival of Ronaldo coincided with Raul's goals drying up, he hit back with 18 in each of the two seasons following Ronaldo's departure.

The Spaniard was the competition's top goalscorer with 71, but has since moved down to fifth in the all-time standings.

9= - Sergio Ramos (144)

In 2005, Sergio Ramos was acquired by Real Madrid for a record fee for a Spanish defender, and transformed himself from formidable centre-back to marauding right-back.

Ramos would return to the centre of defence where he'd spend his best years, going on to win four UEFA Champions League titles, scoring the crucial stoppage-time equaliser against Atletico in 2014 en route to La Decima.

8 - Manuel Neuer (145)

A pioneering goalkeeper who reinvented the position, Manuel Neuer will certainly go down as one of his generation's greats and one of the best to have ever played between the sticks.

Making his name at Schalke, particularly after an outstanding display in the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Manchester United, Neuer was soon off to bigger things, moving to Bayern Munich where he'd win two European titles.

6= - Toni Kroos (151)

Sadly announcing his retirement prior to the end of the 2023/24 season, Toni Kroos will go down as one of his generation's greats.

Having moved from one European behemoth to another when leaving Bayern Munich for Real Madrid in 2014, Kroos would take his game to a new level. Forging a midfield partnership with Luka Modric with the help of Casemiro, Kroos would spend a decade at the Bernabeu, winning five UEFA Champions Leagues - including in his final club game - to go along with his first with Bayern back in 2013.

6= - Xavi (151)

Fans of a certain age will only remember the Barcelona legend Xavi, the ultimate controller in the all-conquering Spain and Barcelona machines of the late 2000s, but prior to the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Xavi was close to leaving Camp Nou.

How different it all could have been but for the intervention of Guardiola, persuading Xavi to stay.

Xavi would be in the heart of some of the greatest football teams of all time, winning the UEFA Champions League four times.

5 - Karim Benzema (152)

After impressing with Lyon, Karim Benzema earned a move to Real Madrid, and while he'd spend much of his career there somewhat in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, he was a crucial part of Real's success.

Benzema's role - like much of the team - involved ensuring Ronaldo would be the primary focal point and goalscoring outlet of the team, and it allowed Benzema's creativity to flourish. But the departure of Ronaldo freed Benzema up further forward, and the Frenchman would go from averaging 14 goals a season with Ronaldo to 22 without him.

Five UEFA Champions League trophies, and the fifth-most appearances in the competition.

4 - Thomas Muller (155)

Thomas Muller is one of a handful of players to play for Bayern Munich in one of their best ever eras, where they won 11 straight Bundesliga titles, only to win the UEFA Champions League twice.

Despite not being the most natural goalscorer - Muller has only surpassed 13 Bundesliga goals once - he ranks eighth for goals in the UEFA Champions League, and fourth for appearances.

3 - Lionel Messi (163)

The greatest footballer of all time, words will never do justice for what Lionel Messi was. The innumerable feats of sheer genius became almost ordinary over the years with the man himself constantly raising the bar.

However the UEFA Champions League, despite Messi's best efforts, saw hugely mixed fortunes for Barcelona throughout the 2010s. Frustrated by Jose Mourinho's Inter in 2010, inexplicably blunted by Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea in 2012, sickeningly defeated by Liverpool in 2019 and humiliated by Bayern Munich in 2020, a number of opportunities passed them by, and while they won three titles in their golden era (and another in 2006 that Messi was a part of), it could've been so much more.

Despite the heartache, Messi ranks third for all-time appearances and second for all-time goals in the UEFA Champions League.

2 - Iker Casillas (177)

As man and boy, Iker Casillas spent 25 years with Real Madrid, becoming a legend of the club and indeed the game itself, but after winning a first UEFA Champions League having just turned 19 in his first season, Casillas lost his place two years later as Real reached another final.

Casillas came off the bench late on and made a number of important saves to beat Bayer Leverkusen, and he never looked back. Although Casillas would lose his place following the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti in 2013, the Spaniard retained the gloves in the UEFA Champions League, and following a spell with Porto, would set the record for most appearances in the competition to go alongside his three wins.

1 - Cristiano Ronaldo (183)

Making his full UEFA Champions League debut for Manchester United back in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo began a love affair with the competition that would span almost two decades.

Ronaldo would reach two UEFA Champions League finals with United, winning one, before moving to Real Madrid, where he'd win four more.

He remains the competition's top scorer with 141 - a record that may never be beaten - and the catalogue of goals are simply incredible: The thunderbolt against Porto, the overhead kick against Juventus, the header against Roma, the free-kick against Arsenal.

Lionel Messi may have been the better footballer over the course of their careers, but as far as the UEFA Champions League went, this was Ronaldo's playground.

Stats correct as of 28th November 2024. Qualifying games are excluded.

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