Most Champions League Goals in a Season
Cristiano Ronaldo – 17 for Real Madrid in 2013-14
Cristiano Ronaldo – 16 for Real Madrid in 2015-16
Robert Lewandowski – 15 for Bayern Munich in 2019-20
Cristiano Ronaldo – 15 for Real Madrid in 2017-18
Karim Benzema – 15 for Real Madrid in 2021-22
Lionel Messi – 14 for Barcelona in 2011-12
Robert Lewandowski – 13 for Bayern Munich in 2021-22
Serhou Guirassy – 13 for Borussia Dortmund in 2024-25
Raphinha – 13 for Barcelona in 2024-25
Cristiano Ronaldo – 12 for Real Madrid in 2012-13
Erling Haaland – 12 for Manchester City in 2022-23
Lionel Messi – 12 for Barcelona in 2018-19
Cristiano Ronaldo – 12 for Real Madrid in 2016-17
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 12 for Manchester United in 2002-03
Mario Gomez – 12 for Bayern Munich in 2011-12
Lionel Messi – 12 for Barcelona in 2010-11
17 Goals: Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013-14
The greatest individual goalscoring season in UEFA Champions League history came in 2013-14, when Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored 17 times, making a huge contribution to their eventual title win.
Ronaldo started the season in the best way possible, scoring a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 6-1 away win at Galatasaray on MD 1, before adding a further six goals in the group stage.
He added more goals in the last 16 (four), quarter-final (one) and semi-final (two) before finishing off his campaign in style with a 120th-minute penalty to cap off a 4-1 victory in the final against rivals Atlético Madrid.
16 Goals: Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015-16
Cristiano Ronaldo came within one goal of equalling his own record just two years later when he scored 16 times in the 2015-16 campaign on the way to once again winning the competition with Real Madrid.
The superstar forward scored 11 goals in the group stage of the 2015-16 edition, which is a record by a single player in a UEFA Champions League campaign. That group-stage tally was two more than the second-highest overall scorer in the competition in 2015-16 – Robert Lewandowski (nine).
Ronaldo yet again opened the season with a hat-trick, this time against Shakhtar Donetsk, before ending the group stage with another superb performance, scoring four goals in the rout of Malmö FF.
The Portuguese didn’t score in the final against Atlético Madrid despite attempting six shots, but he did go on to score the winning penalty in the shootout, as Real Madrid picked up the trophy in Milan.
15 Goals: Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017-18, Robert Lewandowski in 2019-20, Karim Benzema in 2021-22
Cristiano Ronaldo’s third-highest scoring UCL season came in 2017-18 at Real Madrid.
The Portuguese netted 15 times as Real Madrid went on to win the competition, beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final. Ronaldo didn’t score in the final but did score in 10 other games that season to equal his own record tally of scoring in 10 UCL games within a single season, having also achieved the feat in 2013-14.
Robert Lewandowski came into the 2019-20 Champions League final knowing that a goal would see him replicate Ronaldo’s feat of scoring in 10 different UCL games in a season. It wasn’t to be for the Pole, but his Bayern side still picked up the trophy with a 1-0 win over PSG in the final. Lewandowski had scored in all nine of his games prior to the final (15 goals).
Ten of Karim Benzema’s 15 goals in 2021-22 came in the knockout stages of the competition – a joint competition record alongside Ronaldo in 2016-17.
A hat-trick in the second leg of the last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain was followed by a hat-trick in the first leg against Chelsea and a further goal in the quarter-final second leg, before three goals in the two semi-final games against Manchester City. He didn’t score in the final versus Liverpool, but his Real Madrid side still won the title once again.
14 Goals: Lionel Messi in 2011-12
Lionel Messi’s best goalscoring season in the Champions League game back in 2011-12, when he broke all sorts of records with a phenomenal 73 goals in 60 games in all competitions.
He scored 14 of those in the UCL, including five in a single match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in March 2012. This remains one of only three occasions that a player has scored five times in a Champions League match.
Messi’s Barcelona side were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Chelsea. The Argentine failed to score in both legs despite attempting 12 shots overall.
