The UEFA Champions League is a 66-year old cup completion amongst European club sides. Given its credibility, the money-spinning football tournament is the most coveted trophy in club football in Europe. And it has a mammoth number of records tied to it.
One of the records is the all-time leading goalscorer in the history of the competition, Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus star has netted 135 goals in 177 appearances while playing for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
And apart from Ronaldo's fantastic goalscoring record, he has just equalled Iker Casillas' number of appearances in the competition (177) as the player with the most appearances in the tournament after making his second debut as a Red Devils' player in the Champions League.
While it's sure that the Portuguese star will make more appearances in the competition this season for Manchester United, shall we celebrate the players with most appearances in the history of the UEFA Champions League in total, for one club, and by round?
Most appearances
177 Iker Casillas, ESP
177 Cristiano Ronaldo, POR
151 Xavi Hernández, ESP
149 Lionel Messi, ARG
142 Raúl González, ESP
141 Ryan Giggs, WAL
130 Karim Benzema, FRA
130 Andrés Iniesta, ESP
129 Sergio Ramos, ESP
125 Clarence Seedorf, NED
124 Paul Scholes, ENG
124 Gianluigi Buffon, ITA
124 Thomas Müller, GER
In total, 40 players have made 100 UEFA Champions League appearances.
Most appearances for one club
151 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
150 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
149 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
141 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
130 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
130 Raúl González (Real Madrid)
129 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
124 Thomas Müller (Bayern)
124 Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
119 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
115 Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
115 Gerard Piqué (Barcelona)
113 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
111 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
109 Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
109 Gary Neville (Manchester United)
109 John Terry (Chelsea)
107 Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid)
106 Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)
105 Philipp Lahm (Bayern)
103 Oliver Kahn (Bayern)
102 Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
101 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to have made 50 or more appearances each for two clubs: Manchester United (53) and Real Madrid (101).
Appearances in finals
6 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
6 Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
5 Patrice Evra (Monaco, Manchester United, Juventus)
5 Clarence Seedorf (Ajax, Real Madrid, AC Milan)
5 Edwin van der Sar (Ajax, Manchester United)
Appearances in semi-finals
21 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
17 Xabi Alonso (Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern)
16 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
16 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
15 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
15 Thomas Müller (Bayern)
14 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
14 Dani Alves (Barcelona, Juventus)
14 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
14 John Terry (Chelsea)
14 Edwin van der Sar (Ajax, Manchester United)
14 Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)
Appearances in quarter-finals
23 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
22 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
22 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
22 Gerard Piqué (Manchester United, Barcelona)
21 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
21 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
21 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
Appearances in the round of 16
34 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
32 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
27 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Porto)
25 Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
25 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
24 Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)
23 Dani Alves (Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain)
23 Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
23 Zlatan Ibrahimović (Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)
23 Arjen Robben (Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern)
Appearances in the group stage
95 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Porto)
94 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
80 Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
In all cases clubs listed are only those for who players have appeared in the UEFA Champions League.
This article was most recently revised and updated 3 years ago
