The Champions League is the pinnacle of European football. Every player dreams of walking out onto the pitch with the famous anthem ringing around the stadium.
Throughout the years, the best players in Europe have collected Champions League winners medals to add to their already full trophy cabinets.
The likes of Alfredo De Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have all been successful in the competition formerly known as the European Cup.
While these greats of European football have been able to capture the Champions League trophy, there’s a long list of great players that have never reached the top of European football.
Here’s a look at some of the greatest players to have never won the Champions League.
Diego Maradona
Despite being regarded as one of the best players to ever play the game, Diego Maradona didn’t even get close to Champions League success. Playing in a Napoli side that only managed to win the Serie A title twice in his seven seasons at the club, Maradona was unable to bring European success to the club. In the two years they qualified for the competition they were knocked out in the first and the second round. In his two seasons spent at Barcelona they only managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup, meaning the European Cup was one trophy that eluded the legendary Argentine.
Ronaldo (R9)
One that will no doubt be a surprise to many. In his prime he was seen as the best player in the world, able to score any type of goal from any kind of position. Having played for some of the best sides in Europe in Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, Ronaldo had more chance that most to win at least one Champions League trophy, but he never quite managed it. Although AC Milan won it in the 2006/07 season, Ronaldo was cup-tied due to only being on loan from Real Madrid and so wasn’t able to take part. The closest the former Galactico got himself was the semi-final with Real Madrid in 2003.
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Similarly, to Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimović has played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe but has never managed Champions League success. An impressive career playing for Ajax, AC and Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, PSG and currently Manchester United, Ibrahimović has won trophies all across Europe but has never captured ‘the big one’. The furthest the Swede has got in the competition is the semi-final, where his Barcelona side were knocked out by his former club Inter Milan.
Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Matthäus came closer to winning the Champions League than any other player on the list. In 1999 he was part of the Bayern Munich side that were two minutes away from lifting the trophy, before THAT Manchester United comeback. Also a runner up in the 1986/87 season, the former World Cup winning captain managed to win every trophy available to him, but the Champions League.
Gianluigi Buffon
Regarded by many as the greatest goalkeeper to ever grace the earth, Gianluigi Buffon is an Italy and Juventus legend, having won seven Serie A titles as well as the World Cup. The Champions League is the one trophy left for Buffon to win. The 39-year-old has been a runner-up twice with Juventus, in 2002/03 and 2014/15. Having played at the top level for so many years it is a surprise the Italian has never been able to win the Champions League. With his Juventus team in the semi-finals of this year’s competition, this may be Buffon’s last chance for European Cup success.
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