The greatest scoring seasons in Champions League history: Top 10 goal tallies ever

• Kylian Mbappé reaches 14 goals in the current 2025/26 season, matching Lionel Messi’s best record and sitting just three goals away from Cristiano Ronaldo’s all time record.

• The Portuguese star maintains his historical dominance, holding three of the top five spots in the ranking, with his 17 goal campaign in 2013/14 as the gold standard.

• With Real Madrid still alive in the competition, Mbappé has the necessary room to attempt to storm the scoring podium in the upcoming rounds.

The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League season is the stage for a definitive assault on the history books by Kylian Mbappé. In his first campaign wearing the white jersey, the Frenchman has not only met expectations but has burst into the elite group of the highest scorers in a single season. Following his latest goal against Bayern Munich, Mbappé has climbed to seventh place all time with 14 goals, a figure that puts him in a virtual tie with Lionel Messi’s best tally and leaves him within striking distance of the legendary marks Cristiano Ronaldo established during his era at Chamartín.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s absolute dominance

To talk about goals in the Champions League is to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo, who remains the undisputed monarch of this statistic. The Portuguese not only holds the absolute record with 17 goals in the 2013/14 season the year of “La Décima” but also occupies the second spot with 16 goals (2015/16) and the fifth with 15 (2017/18). This hegemony reflects an unprecedented competitive capacity in the knockout stages, where Ronaldo cemented his legacy. For Mbappé, the challenge is not just numerical but one of consistency, as he tries to emulate the voracity that allowed Cristiano to score in almost every stage of the tournament.

The 15 goal club: Lewandowski and Benzema

Just below Ronaldo’s highest peaks, we find the perfect seasons of Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema. The Pole reached 15 goals in the 2019/20 campaign, serving as the engine for a Bayern Munich team that won the title undefeated. Meanwhile, Benzema delivered one of the most memorable individual performances in 2021/22, leading Real Madrid’s epic comebacks with 15 goals, many in life or death moments. Mbappé is now just one goal away from entering this “15 Club,” which would confirm his immediate impact on the winning structure of the Merengue club.

New names breaking into the ranking

It is notable to observe how the current and previous seasons have refreshed a ranking that seemed static. Players like Raphinha and Serhou Guirassy managed to break into the Top 10 with 13 goals in the 2024/25 edition, proving that the new format and the verticality of modern football favor high scoring tallies. However, Mbappé’s feat stands above the rest due to the quality of his opponents; his goals against teams like Bayern, Benfica and Marseille have been vital in keeping Real Madrid as one of the title favorites.

The path to the record of 17

With at least one match guaranteed (the return leg against Bayern) and the possibility of playing in the semifinals and final, Mbappé’s path toward Cristiano’s 17 goals seems like a real possibility. The Frenchman has averaged lethal effectiveness, including three and four goal performances against teams like Kairat Almaty and Olympiacos. If he can sustain this pace in high pressure matches, he will not only surpass Messi and Benzema but will also seriously threaten his idol’s throne, closing a poetic circle in Real Madrid’s history.