European football’s biggest stage has seen the world’s greatest players immortalise themselves into folklore by scoring iconic goals in the Champions League.
The goalscorer usually takes the acclaim, but sometimes the architect of the move deserves the majority of the praise.
So we thought it would be appropriate to cast the spotlight on the top creators of the Champions League era, using data from Opta to rank the players with the most assists in the competition’s history.
The new format that has been introduced for the 2024/25 campaign provides a couple of extra games for players to rack up the statistics, and this might help a certain Argentinian break the illustrious record.
The players with the most assists in Champions League history
Angel Di Maria – 36 assists
The only man on this list who is currently an active player in the Champions League, the Argentine has appeared for some of the continent’s greatest clubs.
The bulk of his assists came in the colours of Paris Saint-Germain, with 18 of them being recorded for the French club.
Di Maria also notched assists for Juventus and Real Madrid and he lifted European football’s top prize aloft with the latter, producing a man-of-the-match performance in Los Bancos’ final win over Atletico Madrid in 2014.
๐ฅณ รngel Di Marรญa…
๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ Remember this sensational rabona assist? #UCL #ThrowbackThursday #TBT pic.twitter.com/zCAPojPpnz
โ UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 14, 2019
Now 36, Di Maria returned to Benfica last year and recorded an assist on matchday one of this season’s competition. The evergreen winger will be targeting the all-time record.
David Beckham – 36 assists
With all the MLS club ownership, high-profile family publicity and dashingly good looks, it is often overlooked how good David Beckham really was.
The Englishman was integral in Manchester United’s famous treble-winning season in 1999 and 29 of his 36 Champions League assists came for his boyhood club.
๐ Crossing masterclass, by David Beckham ๐ฏ#UCL | @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/VbI1UerJab
โ UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 7, 2020
The set-piece specialist earned plenty of assists from corners and free-kicks with only Luis Figo setting up his teammates more from dead-ball situations.
Lionel Messi – 39 assists
The creative genius of Leo Messi has consistently provided his teammates with goals on a silver platter.
The diminutive Argentine frequently caught the eye in the Champions League and he was the orchestrator of a Barcelona side that dominated Europe under Pep Guardiola.
The multi-Ballon d’Or winner had it all. Four Champions League titles and 129 goals, on top of his 39 assists, is spectacular reading but surprisingly isn’t enough to claim the top spot.
Messi now resides in the USA where plays in the MLS for David Beckham’s Inter Miami, but the optimist in us hopes that a return to European football might still be in on the cards.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 40 assists
Considering how the two players are usually profiled, it may be a shock to discover that Cristiano Ronaldo has more assists in the Champions League than Messi.
Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer has had many evolutions in his career, from the silky, ear-pierced dribbler in Manchester, to the ruthless goal machine at Real Madrid and Juventus. But I bet you never had him down as unselfish.
CR7 epitomises everything the Champions League is truly about at its core. The grandiosity, the art of rising to the occasion, and entertainment.
But first and foremost, he is a winner. And if winning means passing the decisive moment to a teammate in a better position, best believe he did it. But he agonisingly misses out on claiming the assist record to partner his goalscoring benchmark.
Ryan Giggs- 41 assists
The Champions League’s King of Assists is none other than Manchester United great, Ryan Giggs.
The Welshman was providing goals for his boyhood club for over two decades and his tally of 41 assists is a statistic that no one has yet been able to emulate.
Two of his assists came in Champions League finals, with his mishit shot falling to Teddy Sheringham in Manchester United’s 1999 triumph and the Red Devils’ only goal of the 2011 final defeat to Barcelona also set up by Giggs.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ Two-time winner Ryan Giggs turns 46 today! ๐
โณ 19 #UCL seasons
๐ 141 games
โฝ๏ธ 28 goals
๐ 1999 winner
๐ 2008 winner
๐ด 1 @ManUtd legend pic.twitter.com/CdDjaWe80kโ UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 29, 2019
Longevity understandably contributed to his unprecedented number of assists, with the Welshman appearing 141 times in Europe’s elite competition.
His first assist came in 1993 away at Hungarian outfit Budapest Honved FC and his last arrived in late 2013 against Bayer Leverkusen. How’s that for durability?
Read –ย The highest scoring Englishmen in Champions League history
See more –ย Every player to score four goals in a Champions League game
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