Cristiano Ronaldo Leads the List of Top 10 Players With the Most UEFA Champions League Appearances

• Cristiano Ronaldo has made the most appearances in the UEFA Champions League
• The top five players with the most appearances in the UCL have all gone over 150
• Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos and Thomas Muller are still competing in the Champions League

It’s the dream of many footballers to play in the UEFA Champions League.

The tournament is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world and has seen some of the world’s best footballers compete in it.

With the group stages for the current tournament done and dusted, Sports Brief looks at who has made the most appearances in the tournament and who could still climb further up.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The former Real Madrid star competed in the tournament for Manchester United, Madrid and Juventus.

Ronaldo made his debut in the competition in 2003 when he was just 18 and has gone on to make 183 appearances since. He played 19 seasons in the tournament before moving to AL-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

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Iker Casillas

The only goalkeeper in the top 10, Casillas made 150 appearances for Real Madrid alone.

He also played 27 times for Porto in the competition, bringing his total to 177. Casillas retired from the game in 2020 and will go down as one of the greatest keepers of all time.

Lionel Messi

With 149 games for Barcelona alone, Messi crossed the 150 threshold with a further 14 games for Paris Saint-Germain.

Having played 20 games fewer than his rival Ronaldo, Messi now plies his trade in the United States of America, and it’s unlikely that he will surpass CR7 before he retires.

Messi debuted in 2005 and continued playing Champions League football until 2023.

Karim Benzema

Another former Real Madrid star, Benzema notched up 152 appearances in the tournament.

The French attacker played 19 games for Lyon and 133 games for Real Madrid before leaving Europe for the Saudi Pro League. Now playing for Al-Ittihad, a Benzema return to Europe doesn’t look likely.

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Xavi

With 151 appearances, Xavi is the fifth player on the list.

As noted by UEFA, Xavi holds the record for having the most Champions League appearances for one club.

All of Xavi’s appearances came for Barcelona, and he continues to make appearances in the tournament, only this time as a manager.

The top five on the list have all made over 150 appearances in the Champions League, but with none of them active in Europe anymore, there is a chance for others to steadily climb the list.

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Manchester City among 13 'perfect' UCL teams

Only two teams have managed to secure victories in all six of their matches during the group stage of this season's UEFA Champions League.

As Sports Brief also reported, this marks the conclusive instalment of the tournament's current format, with a new structure to be introduced.

Man City achieved a historic milestone by finishing the UCL group stage with a perfect record of six wins, joining an elite group in the process.