One observation - perhaps a criticism - of the modern UEFA Champions League is that it features many of the usual suspects battling it out for glory year after year.
Real Madrid met Dortmund in the final on 1 June 2024, as two of Europe's biggest clubs clashed in the biggest club competition of all. Dortmund's progress to the final may have been a shock, but it was still their third title final appearance.
For Madrid, their victory in London marked a record 15th European crown in total.
On the other hand, the familiar appearance of the usual suspects in the latter stages of the competition year after year means that the best players regularly appear in the biggest matches. This in turn creates the conditions for many winners to follow one another.
So, which player has the most winners' medals in the history of the Champions League and European Cup before? Let's find out in the list below.
Which players have won the most Champions League titles?
Cristiano Ronaldo? Gareth Bale? Karim Benzema? No, not quite, although they are high on the list of the greatest players of all time.
Surprisingly, the overall ranking is dominated by Real Madrid, after their concentrated periods of success in the 1950s and 2010s, and their victory over Dortmund means that a host of players from the current generation of Real Madrid greats have now taken their place at the top of the all-time list.
The key Madrid players are Dani Carvajal - whose goal in the final helped lift the trophy in 2024 - and Paco Gento, the left winger from the team that won each of the first five European Cups. Gento was then the only man left in that Galacticos team, before they were a Galacticos thing when Madrid came from behind to beat Partizan in the 1966 final
Immortal Luka Modric also celebrated his sixth overall crown, having entered as a player. . substitute At the end of the match during the 2024 final
Before the 2024 final, none other than Gento had won the famous trophy six times, but Carvajal and Modric have joined that exclusive list with six wins and six winning appearances in the final.
Behind them are two more players from Madrid 2024, who now have six triumphs in total, although they did not participate in all the winning finals. Here comes a key difference between whether a nobody is just a Champions League winner or has played in a Champions League final victory.
Toni Kroos retired from club football after playing in all five of Real Madrid's successful finals during his time in the Spanish capital but was sidelined with injury when Bayern defeated Borussia Dortmund at Wembley in 2013. - won time with Madrid this season, although he only played in the 2018 final and the 2024 triumph.
Players with the Most European Cup/UEFA Champions League Titles
Player | Club(s) | Overall Titles | Winning Finals Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paco Gento | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 |
| Dani Carvajal | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 |
| Luka Modric | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 |
| Toni Kroos | Bayern Munich, Real Madrid | 6 | 5 |
| Nacho | Real Madrid | 6 | 2 |
| Juan Alonso | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Rafael Lesmes | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Marquitos | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Hector Rial | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Jose Maria Zarraga | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United, Real Madrid | 5 | 5 |
| Paolo Maldini | AC Milan | 5 | 5 |
| Casemiro | Real Madrid | 5 | 4 |
| Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 5 | 4 |
| Isco | Real Madrid | 5 | 4 |
| Marcelo | Real Madrid | 5 | 4 |
| Alessandro Costacurta | AC Milan | 5 | 3 |
| Lucas Vazquez | Real Madrid | 5 | 2 |
| Andres Iniesta | Barcelona | 4 | 4 |
| Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid | 4 | 4 |
| Clarence Seedorf | Ajax, Real Madrid, AC Milan | 4 | 4 |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 4 | 3 |
| Xavi | Barcelona | 4 | 3 |
| Gerard Pique | Manchester United, Barcelona | 4 | 3 |
| Raphael Varane | Real Madrid | 4 | 3 |
| Mateo Kovacic | Real Madrid, Chelsea | 4 | 1 |
It's a similar story for Lionel Messi and he's won. Gerard Pique has also shone in Barca's last three victories, having won his first medal as a member of the team at Manchester United in 2008.
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