Even Robert Lewandowski was taken aback by his feat of becoming the third player in Champions League history to score a century of goals in the competition.
Barcelona's prolific veteran took his tally to 101 top-tier European strikes with a brace against French outfit Brest on Tuesday night, matching a high watermark only previously set by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lewandowski amassed 17 Champions League goals during his time at Borussia Dortmund, helping a side led by Jurgen Klopp reach the 2013 final at Wembley.
That Dortmund team lost to Bayern Munich, who snapped Lewandowski up on a free transfer in the following summer. The prolific striker racked up 69 goals in 78 Champions League games for the Bavarian giants, helping Bayern lift the continental title in 2020.
Race to 100 Champions League goals
Stat at time of 100 UCL goals | Robert Lewandowski | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo |
|---|---|---|---|
Appearances | 125 | 123 | 137 |
Minutes | 10,621 | 10,114 | 11,855 |
Assists | 26 | 32 | 40 |
After netting twice in Barcelona's 3-0 victory, Lewandowski told Movistar: "I am very happy, it's a lovely number to bring up. Years ago I did not think I could score more than 100 goals in the Champions League. To join Messi and Ronaldo...I guess they are good, right?
"For me the most important thing is that we try to win every game, if I can score, then that's the perfect solution."
Lewandowski recently revealed that he is "proud" to have rubbed shoulders with Messi and Ronaldo, claiming: "I think I've been close to that elite level in some moments and even beat them in different games. I think we can say I was around!"
Messi ended his Champions League career with 129 goals, while Ronaldo leads the all-time standings with 140. At 36, Lewandowski is running out of time to match those tallies, but is enjoying the best form of his Barcelona career following the summer appointment of his old Bayern manager, Hansi Flick.
"I know him also two years from Munich; there he also broke every record you can break," Flick gushed in midweek. "Now he's also scoring. It's important for us. But the whole team is supporting him. The other players will help him score the goals."
All-time Champions League top scorers
Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 140 |
2. | Lionel Messi | 129 |
3. | Robert Lewandowski | 101 |
4. | Karim Benzema | 90 |
5. | Raul | 71 |
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