Greatest Champions League midfielders
Best Champions League midfielders? Top Champions League midfielders? Greatest Champions League midfielders? Who makes the hall of fame? Today we will be looking at the Top 10 Champions League midfielders of all time.
Who are the top 10 Champions League midfielders of all time? There are many candidates. We have already covered goalkeepers and defenders, and you can read those articles by clicking on the corresponding links.
But now we move onto midfielders, so let’s dive into it. These are Sillyseason’s top 10 Champions League midfielders of all time. To qualify for this list, players must have played in the re-branded, modern Champions League, which was introduced in 1993.
Best Champions League midfielders
So let’s dive into the list, here are Sillyseason’s best, greatest and top Champions League midfielders in history!!
10) Xabi Alonso – Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich – 2x winner 1x runner up
He’s been a starter whatever club he goes to, and has had so much experience in this competition. He picked up his first medal in 2005 with Liverpool and then his second with Real Madrid, but while at Bayern Munich, he failed to add a third. Xabi Alonso has to be one of the Best Champions League midfielders ever!
9) Steven Gerrard – Liverpool – 1x winner and 1x runner up
He only won it once, but 2 years after the famous Istanbul game, he made in the final again in Athens. He lost 2-1 to a very impressive Milan side, who got their revenge for the 2005 final. Other than these final occasions, he was captain of the Liverpool team that was consistently reaching the quarters/semis of the competition year after year for nearly a decade. Steven Gerrard is one of the Best Champions League midfielders of all time.
8) Edgar Davids – Ajax – 1x winner
Davids is a legend of the game who enjoyed a career at several different clubs, but his spell at Ajax was the most successful, where he won his only Champions League medal. He played in England for Spurs, Crystal Palace and Barnet after that success. Edgar Davids was one of the Best Champions League midfielders ever.
7) Ronaldinho – Barcelona – 1x winner
Perhaps one of the greatest players ever to grace the game, but actually only won this competition once. His confidence and trickery on the ball was fantastic and he deserves a spot on this list due to his stunning ability in football. Ronaldinho was just mesmerising at times and he has to be one of the Best Champions League midfielders ever.
6) Paul Scholes – Manchester United – 2x winner 2x runner up
Scholes is a legendary figure at Manchester United and achieved 2 Champions League medals in his United career. He was part of the team that famously scored 2 goals in injury time in 1999 to win the cup against Bayern Munich, and also won it in 2008, when United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.
5) Toni Kroos – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – 4x winner
Kroos is an excellent and often underrated star, who has won the competition twice in his career. Once with Bayern Munich, and three times with Real Madrid. He’s a powerhouse German midfielder who has real technical ability, including a talent for scoring and passing. He is worthy of his spot on this list.
4) Cristiano Ronald0 – Manchester United and Real Madrid – 5x winner 1x runner up
Perhaps the highlights of a glittering career for Ronaldo. He is a 5x winner of this fantastic competition and also a runner up once. He got his first medal in 2008 at Manchester United, and followed that up with 4 more at Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016, 2017, 2018. Fantastic honours for a fantastic player.
3) Andrea Pirlo – AC Milan – 2x winner 2x runner up
Ok, so he hasn’t won it as many times as Ronaldo, but he’s just been a stunning player throughout the years for AC Milan and Juventus (even though he’s never won it with Juventus). He won his titles in 2003 and 2007, while being runner up in 2005 and 2015. He has a plethora of trophies to his name and a legendary status at Milan and for his national team.
