Winning the Champions League is the greatest honor in European club football. Winning the coveted continental title of Europe is one thing, but scoring the net in every Champions League season is a feat in itself. Cristiano Ronaldo currently leads the all-time Champions League scoring charts with 141 goals. However, even the prolific Portuguese failed to score for 18 consecutive Champions League seasons, an achievement the two players currently enjoy;
1-Lionel Messi
The Argentinian became the first player to score in 18 consecutive Champions League seasons when he netted against Maccabi Haifa in a 3-1 win for PSG in September. The 35-year-old has scored four goals. in Europe's premier league this season, and his tally of goals at the tournament is 129.
2- Karim Benzema
On Tuesday night, France and the reigning Ballon d'Or Karim Benzema joined Lionel Messi in the list of players who have scored in 18 consecutive Champions League seasons. Benzema scored a brace to help Real Madrid beat Liverpool in a horror game that scored seven goals in the first leg of the round of 16 at Anfield. It was his first and second goal of the current Champions League campaign and it comes at a crucial juncture.
The 2022/23 Champions League is in the first leg of the round of 16 as the teams try to take an important step towards reaching the quarter-finals.
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MANCHESTER. - Manchester City's quest for final European conquest resumes tonight as Pep Guardiola's men march to RB Leipzig, but all is not well for the English football champions on and off the pitch.
City appear to have set a major milestone in the Premier League title race, beating leaders Arsenal 3-1 last week, only to lose two points when conceding late in a 1-1 draw. 1 against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
They are also playing under the clouds after being charged by the Premier League with more than 100 financial rule violations, since the 2009/10 season.
Defender Kyle Walker has described City's indifference to give up the top spot in the Premier League at the weekend as "unacceptable". "Sometimes it's football and sometimes it's emotion," he said. "Every game should be treated the same, like a cup final."
The 2-point gap with the top team can turn into 5 points if Arsenal win against the struggling Everton.
City's lack of consistency worries Guardiola before his side return to the league they most desire.
City have never won the Champions League, while Guardiola, who has won the title twice as Barcelona manager, has failed to do so since 2011, his penultimate season at Barcelona. Camp Nou.
The signing of Erling Haaland is the final piece to solving Man City's puzzle in Europe. The Norwegian delivered the goals expected, with 32 goals in all competitions.
However, the arrival of Haaland is one of the factors explaining the decline in Man City's collective standards this season.
The defending champions have dropped 20 points in 24 games, down from 21 in the entire 2021/22 season.
Despite Haaland's run, City have scored more goals as a team at this stage last season.
In defence, they also appear to be more open-minded – an issue left unresolved as Guardiola is willing to let Joao Cancelo join Bayern Munich on loan, leaving him without a natural left-back. Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Rico Lewis and even creative midfielder Bernardo Silva have been pushed out on the left side of defense in just the past two weeks.
Guardiola said he was encouraged by City's performance at Forest despite a lack of killer instinct costing them two points.
However, he quickly called up his players after the World Cup break for lack of desire and desire to remain at the top in England, an unusual approach for the former Barca and Bayern boss. Munich. Finding such momentum for the Champions League is not difficult. Number three goalkeeper Scott Carson is the only member of Guardiola's squad to have won the competition before, when he was at Liverpool. "We come later," goalkeeper Ederson said of City's quest to win the Champions League. —AFP
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