Lewandowski becomes third player to score 100 Champions League goals – could he catch Messi?

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UCL goal machine  

©TM/IMAGO

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski made history on Tuesday night by becoming only the third player in Champions League history to reach 100 goals in the European competition. In a routine 2-0 win over Brest, the Polish striker needed just 10 minutes to open the scoring for the LaLiga side, when he stepped up to the penalty spot and confidently dispatched the ball into the right corner of the net. The goal now means that Lewandowski has bagged a remarkable 100 goals in 125 Champions League games for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and now Barcelona. 

The achievement now means that the 36-year-old talisman sits behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for goals in the competition, with the Portuguese legend bagging 141 goals and his generational talent bagging 129 goals. However, with both players now playing elsewhere in world football, it now means that Lewandowski is the only active player in European football with 100 goals in the tournament. And the Barcelona player may have every intention of guiding Hansi Flick’s side to silverware in the competition and far more goals along the way. But could Lewandowski really catch Messi or Ronaldo’s records before eventually hanging up his shooting boots for the last time?

How does Lewandowksi compare to Messi and Ronaldo’s Champions League record?

As we can see in the table below, unlike Ronaldo and Messi, who have played substantially more games, Lewandowski boasts a strong goals-per-game ratio of 0.8, demonstrating his incredible efficiency in front of goal. When comparing Lewandowski’s stats to Ronaldo and Messi, his goals-per-game ratio is slightly higher than Ronaldo’s (0.75) but marginally below Messi’s (0.79). This places Lewandowski in an elite category, showcasing his ability to consistently deliver goals over fewer appearances. His efficiency is further underscored by his 100-goal milestone, reached in 125 matches, which solidifies his reputation as one of the best strikers in Champions League history.

Lewandowski’s closest competitors in the top 10 include Karim Benzema, who scored 90 goals in 152 games, and Raul, who accumulated 71 goals in 144 appearances. While Benzema’s contributions were invaluable to Real Madrid’s success, Lewandowski’s goals-per-game record of 0.8 is significantly superior to Benzema’s 0.59, underscoring Lewandowski’s clinical finishing abilities. Among retired players, Ruud van Nistelrooy stands out with 60 goals in 73 games, a phenomenal ratio of 0.82, slightly edging out Lewandowski’s efficiency. The rest of the top 10 includes iconic names like Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko, and Filippo Inzaghi, all of whom contributed massively to their teams’ European campaigns. However, none of these players approach Lewandowski’s remarkable consistency and efficiency. His record reflects not only his longevity but also his dominance as a modern striker capable of thriving at the highest level of European football. And hints at what else could yet be in store for the Barcelona striker. 

Could Lewandowski catch Messi or Ronaldo’s goal scoring record in the Champions League?

Due to the expansion of the Champions League format, should Barcelona reach the final of the competition, Lewandowski could theoretically play a further 10 games in Europe before the end of the season. And then potentially another 15 games if the Spanish giants were to repeat the feat next season. Even if Flick’s side didn’t achieve such results in the competition, it’s probably fair to assume that the Polish striker will likely play at least another 15 Champions League games before the end of his career. If we then consider that he’s averaged 0.8 goals per game over the course of his career, that would suggest that the striker could add another 12 goals to his tally and finish on 112 goals in the competition. In other words, Lewandowski would likely need another 36 or 37 games in the competition to catch Messi’s goal haul. And while that isn’t entirely impossible due to the new competition format, it does seem highly unlikely.