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Champions League 40-goal club: Karim Benzema closes in on Robert Lewandowski tally

sportsmole.co.uk, 16 March 2023, 08:41
Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the game as Real Madrid safely booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League yet again at the expense of Liverpool on Wednesday evening.

Protecting a 5-2 lead from the first leg, the holders rarely looked in any danger of shipping one goal - yet alone the three Liverpool required - before Benzema sealed a 6-2 aggregate triumph at the Bernabeu.

The goal was Benzema's 89th in the Champions League, leaving him just two short of Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski as the third-highest scorer in the competition's history.

Other members of the 40-goal club such as Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller, Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe all drew blanks in the latest round of fixtures, but the likelihood of a new member joining in the near future was heightened by Erling Braut Haaland's historic five-goal haul, taking him up to 33 in just 25 Champions League outings overall.

Here, Sports Mole looks at the latest standings in the 40-goal club.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)

Goals: 140

Appearances: 183

Ratio: 0.77

2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 129

Appearances: 163

Ratio: 0.79

3. Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona)

Goals: 91

Appearances: 111

Ratio: 0.82

4. Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)

Goals: 89

Appearances: 148

Ratio: 0.60

5. Raul (Real Madrid, Schalke 04)

Goals: 71

Appearances: 142

Ratio: 0.50

6. Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)

Goals: 56

Appearances: 73

Ratio: 0.77

7. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Goals: 53

Appearances: 140

Ratio: 0.38

8. Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)

Goals: 50

Appearances: 112

Ratio: 0.45

9. Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

Goals: 49

Appearances: 58

Ratio: 0.84

10. Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan, Chelsea)

Goals: 48

Appearances: 100

Ratio: 0.48

11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 48

Appearances: 124

Ratio: 0.39

12. Eusebio (Benfica)

Goals: 46

Appearances: 65

Ratio: 0.71

13. Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus, AC Milan)

Goals: 46

Appearances: 81

Ratio: 0.57

15. Mohamed Salah (Basel, Roma, Liverpool)

Goals: 44

Appearances: 79

Ratio: 0.56

15. Didier Drogba (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)

Goals: 44

Appearances: 92

Ratio: 0.48

16. Neymar (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 43

Appearances: 81

Ratio: 0.53

17. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

Goals: 42

Appearances: 89

Ratio: 0.47

18. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Manchester City)

Goals: 41

Appearances: 79

Ratio: 0.52

19. Kylian Mbappe (Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 40

Appearances: 61

Ratio: 0.66

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