5 Players With Most UCL Appearances As Muller Nears 150 Games for Bayern Munich

• Thomas Muller is two games away from hitting 150 UEFA Champions League games
• The veteran attacker played his 148th game in Bayern Munich’s 1-0 loss to SS Lazio
• He could break into the top five this season if Bayern reaches the quarter-final

Thomas Muller played his 148th UEFA Champions League game for Bayern Munich last night in their Round of 16 first-leg 1-0 loss to Italian Serie A club Lazio.

He moved within three games of tying Barcelona legend and manager Xavi Hernandez in fifth place for most appearances in Europe's biggest club competition.

Despite being sixth on the all-time appearance list, the German legend is one of the three players with 100 wins after Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas.

Sports Brief looks at the top five players with the most games in the competition.

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1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Per Transfermarkt, Ronaldo has the most appearances in the competition (183) and, unsurprisingly, the most goals (140). The five-time winner of the competition played for three clubs – Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus before departing Europe for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

2. Iker Casillas

Per the Guinness World Record, the legendary Madrid goalkeeper has the most appearances of any goalkeeper in the UCL with 177, the second most of any player, having featured for 20 years playing at Real Madrid and FC Porto. He won it three times.

3. Lionel Messi

Eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi played 163 times in the Champions League, most of which came for FC Barcelona, with whom he won it four times. He featured 14 times for Paris Saint-Germain during his two-year spell at the club.

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4. Karim Benzema

French striker Benzema amassed 152 UCL appearances between Madrid and Olympique Lyon. He is one of the players who won it five times, including three consecutively between 2016 and 2018. He left Europe for Al-Ittihad last summer but is seeking means to return.

5. Xavi Hernandez

The former Barcelona captain and current manager is the last player in the top five and the fifth to have over 150 games with 151. He played all his games for Barcelona and won the UCL four times. The Blaugrana haven't won since he left in 2015.

Five players with most UCL assists

Sports Brief previously analysed five players with most UCL assists after Angel Di Maria broke into the top three to join Ronaldo and Messi, who are first and second.

The Portuguese leads the assists chart, the way he leads the appearance and goals chart, justifying his nickname Mr Champions League.