Champions League for the first time in 20 years without Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo

On the calendar was October 1, 2003, when Cristiano Ronaldo made his Champions League debut. Almost twenty years later, the top club competition will, for the first time, have neither CR7 nor Lionel Messi.

Over the years, the two dominated, leading their teams to the top nine times! However, years pass and now they are competing in other states.

The last to leave European soil was Lionel Messi, who moved to the US to join Inter Miami last July, leaving the Champions League without the two players who dominated the competition.

But what have Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi achieved in the Champions League in these twenty years?

Your incredible achievements

As mentioned above, the two won the event a total of nine times. Cristiano Ronaldo has done it five times with Real Madrid, while Lionel Messi has done it four times with Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo played in 187 games for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, scoring 141 goals and providing 42 assists.

On the other side was Lionel Messi 163 games, 129 goals scored and 40 assists with the Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain jerseys.

At the same time, the two are in the first two places in the category of the most goals and assists in the history of the institution. Numbers that are, not least, dizzying and show the greatness of the two top footballers.

*Statistics are from UEFA’s official website.