Many of Cristiano Ronaldo’s information appear destined to stay unbroken for years into the long run, if not endlessly.
Scoring essentially the most official targets within the historical past of soccer, essentially the most worldwide targets and essentially the most instances for Real Madrid are amongst three of his achievements that can, on the very least, final effectively into his retirement.
Yet this isn’t the case when it comes to the Portuguese’s document for essentially the most targets in a European Cup/Champions League season. Ronaldo’s mark of 17, set for Madrid in 2013-14, is beneath menace this marketing campaign from one his successors on the membership: Kylian Mbappe (and, to a lesser extent, Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane).
Mbappe has been in sensational kind within the competitors this season, discovering the web 14 instances up to now to put him inside touching distance of Ronaldo’s document. Kane, in the meantime, is on 11 targets.
Madrid and Bayern Munich face one another on Wednesday within the second leg of their quarter-final, with the German aspect successful 2-1 within the Spanish capital final week.
So, will the document fall? How does Mbappe’s trajectory in 2025-26 evaluate to Ronaldo’s 12 years in the past? And what are the opposite greatest particular person scoring campaigns within the competitors’s 70-year historical past?
The Athletic takes a glance.
Mbappe has scored 14 instances within the Champions League this season (Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
Firstly, it needs to be identified that the enlargement of the Champions League firstly of final season from 32 groups to 36 and the tweaked format that got here with it have drastically elevated the probabilities of Ronaldo’s document being damaged.
The new ‘league phase’, which replaced the group stage, means either side is assured to play eight video games as a substitute of six, and the introduction of the ‘knockout phase play-offs’ after the league part implies that 16 of the 24 groups that advance will play a further two matches in a bid to qualify for the spherical of 16. Therefore, a membership that reaches the ultimate may play up to 17 video games — as Paris Saint-Germain did final marketing campaign. Under the earlier system, which was used from 2003-04 to 2023-24, groups that made the ultimate performed 13 matches.
Moving on, let’s begin with the ten highest particular person targets totals in a season within the competitors, which began in 1955-56 because the European Cup and was rebranded because the Champions League within the 1992-93 marketing campaign. (Note: if studying on the cellular app, please scroll to the fitting to see the quantity of video games every man performed).
As you possibly can see, all of them have come within the Champions League period aside from Jose Altafini’s 14-goal haul for winners Milan in 1962-63. This is just not a shock given the competitors’s enlargement through the years (there have been simply 29 matches performed within the inaugural version, and there will probably be 189 on this one).
Robert Lewandowski, in the meantime, can really feel onerous achieved by, because the 2019-20 marketing campaign, during which he netted 15 instances for champions Bayern Munich, noticed each the quarter-finals and semi-finals decreased to one-legged ties in consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, denying the Pole an additional two matches during which to rating.
Now, let’s evaluate Ronaldo’s 17-goal document from 2013-14 — when, unsurprisingly, his Madrid workforce received the competitors — and Mbappe’s ongoing 2025-26 marketing campaign.
Here are the 11 video games Ronaldo performed within the Champions League in 2013-14 and the quantity of targets he scored in every. The Portuguese turned 29 simply earlier than the beginning of the knockout part.
Ronaldo missed two Madrid matches within the competitors that season — Galatasaray at dwelling within the group stage and the quarter-final second leg at Borussia Dortmund, each in consequence of damage.
Of the 11 video games Ronaldo did play, he failed to rating in simply one of them: with Bayern Munich and their goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, holding him out within the first leg of the semi-final.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick in opposition to Galatasaray was the second of eight trebles he scored within the competitors total, with solely Lionel Messi (additionally eight) registering as many as this within the event’s historical past.
Fast-forward 12 years and listed here are the ten video games Mbappe has performed up to now within the competitors this season, with the Frenchman turning 27 through the league part.
Mbappe has missed three European video games in 2025-26: the league-phase conflict in opposition to Manchester City in December, the second leg of the knockout-phase play-off at dwelling to Benfica in February, and the primary leg of the round-of-16 tie with Manchester City in March.
Surprisingly, Mbappe has failed to rating in 4 of his 10 appearances this season. He has greater than made up for this, nevertheless, by netting greater than as soon as in 5 video games, together with two hat-tricks.
If he will get one other three-goal haul within the competitors in 2025-26, he’ll equal the document for essentially the most in a single marketing campaign, which is held by Altafini in that 1962-63 season and Ronaldo in 2015-16.
Now, listed here are the 2 gamers’ scoring trajectories from these two seasons.
After 10 video games, the quantity that Mbappe has performed up to now on this marketing campaign, Ronaldo had scored 16 targets — two greater than the Frenchman has. However, as now we have seen, the Portuguese had simply one match left to play by that time. Mbappe should still have 4 to go if his Madrid workforce attain the ultimate in Budapest on May 30.
If the Spanish membership do attain the showpiece occasion and Mbappe performs in each match whereas scoring on the identical fee he has up to now within the competitors in 2025-26, then he’ll finish the marketing campaign with 19 targets — breaking Ronaldo’s document of 17.
Ronaldo’s 17 targets within the 2013-14 Champions League stays a document… for now (Olivier Morin/AFP by way of Getty Images)
If Madrid are eradicated by Bayern on Wednesday, then he has simply one sport left, and in the event that they beat Bayern however lose within the semi-finals, then he has three remaining — all being effectively.
Kane, in the meantime, has scored 11 targets in 10 video games; so if Bayern attain the ultimate and the Englishman performs each match whereas netting on the identical fee he has up to now, he’ll end with 15, two quick of Ronaldo’s mark.
Now, let’s take a fast have a look at the nuts and bolts behind Ronaldo and Mbappe’s private best-ever Champions League campaigns in entrance of purpose.
The second of Ronaldo’s penalties in 2013-14 got here within the one hundred and twentieth minute of the ultimate in opposition to Atletico Madrid in Lisbon, which is the one time a participant has ever scored a spot kick throughout further time within the European Cup/Champions League closing. That purpose can also be the final time a participant scored in a closing happening in their very own nation.
Here are the gamers who supplied the assists for the duo’s targets, beginning with Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, in flip, set team-mates up to rating on 5 events in that Champions League marketing campaign.
These are the boys who’ve assisted Mbappe in 2025-26 in Europe’s premier competitors, with none of them within the Madrid first workforce when Ronaldo performed his final sport for the membership in May 2018.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois‘ title instantly jumps out, with the Belgian shot stopper teeing Mbappe up from inside his personal six-yard field away in opposition to Kairat in September.
Mbappe has simply one help to his title within the Champions League this season, returning the favour for the thrice Vinicius Junior has set him up by taking part in the ultimate cross to his Brazilian team-mate in opposition to Benfica within the first leg of the knockout part play-offs.
Before this season, Mbappe’s greatest return in a Champions League marketing campaign was eight targets — achieved in each 2020-21 and 2023-24 for his former club Paris Saint-Germain.
Overall, he has netted 69 instances within the competitors and sits in sixth on the listing of all-time high scorers. One extra purpose and he will probably be precisely midway to Ronaldo’s document of 140.
Forty-two of these targets got here when he was at Paris Saint-Germain (taking part in within the competitors for the membership from 2017-18 to 2023-24), 21 have been scored at Madrid in his two seasons in Spain since leaving the French capital, and 6 had been in his debut marketing campaign within the Champions League for Monaco in 2016-17.
Mbappe is but to win the competitors, making him the participant to have scored essentially the most targets in it with out ever claiming the well-known trophy.
When it comes to the prospect of Ronaldo’s mark being damaged, a lot will depend on the consequence between Bayern Munich and Madrid in Germany on Wednesday.
If the Spanish aspect can, as they so usually have over the course of their storied historical past within the competitors, flip issues round and advance to the semi-finals, then Mbappe could have an incredible probability to write his title into the document books and, in doing so, take away one of the best gamers the game has ever seen on the high of this explicit listing.
Not least as a result of if Madrid do undergo, the Frenchman will very possible have had lots to do with it.
And if they do not? Well, a sure Bayern ahead will probably be licking his lips on the probability of supplanting Ronaldo.
