13 Players With the Most Champions League Assists of All Time

Key Takeaways

• Despite being one of the finest midfielders in the 21st century, Andres Iniesta is only joint-seventh for total Champions League assists, tied with Karim Benzema.
• Muller is one of only three players on this list who is still playing in the competition today, joined by Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Benfica’s Angel Di Maria.
• Long-term rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi unsurprisingly find themselves at the sharp end of this list.

The pinnacle of club football: the Champions League. Many footballers yearn for the opportunity to take centre stage in Europe’s most prestigious competition, though there are only a select few – often comprised of the very best – that have the pleasure of fulfilling their dream of winning the whole thing.

Often lauded as the hardest thing to do in football is the art of goalscoring, hence why most Ballon d’Or winners are either those who are deployed centrally or goal-gobbling wide men. But what about some praise for those creators who have racked up an eye-watering number of assists?

Football purists can all agree that it is often the mind-bending, jaw-dropping pass to a striker which makes a goal brilliant. Here are the legendary figures who have recorded the most assists on the Champions League’s grand stage since the competition’s reformatting in 1992 up to this 2024/25 season.

13 Luis Suarez – 26 assists

Ajax, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid

Despite enjoying some of his best years for Liverpool, Luis Suarez never played a Champions League game in the club’s famous red shirt. The prolific Uruguayan rapidly made up for lost time in the continental elite once he arrived at Barcelona in 2014, helping the Catalan giants complete a European treble in his debut campaign with a goal against Juventus in the final.

After years of tirelessly charging around the final third, Suarez’s sharpened edge was dulled with age and his decline was painfully highlighted on the European stage. Barcelona’s former number nine went 26 games and almost three years without either scoring or creating a Champions League goal away from home. Suarez’s last European assist at any venue teed up Ansu Fati’s 86th-minute winner against Inter Milan in December 2019 – almost two-and-a-half years before his final appearance in the competition.

12 Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 26 assists

Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, Manchester United

The entire Zlatan Ibrahimovic brand is inherently self-centred. A prolific goalscorer who frequently compares himself to jungle cats and gods doesn’t exactly scream selflessness. But there are many layers to the enigma that is Ibrahimovic. “I’m happy to give an assist because for me it is just like you have scored yourself,” the Swedish icon explained towards the end of a glittering career. “It’s part of my game and I have wanted to be as complete as possible in my game since I was young and started to play football.” Ibrahimovic did his best while striving for completion, teeing up more goals in Europe’s elite competition than all but 10 players.

11 Cesc Fabregas – 26 assists

Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea

The Champions League is one of the few trophies Cesc Fabregas has never lifted in his illustrious career. An unsuccessful finalist in the 2006 edition, the Spanish midfielder nonetheless made history with a total of 26 assists in just over 100 games.

As an anecdote, history will remember that he played his last match in the competition for Chelsea against Barcelona, the club where he first kicked a ball. The Spanish maestro enjoyed success in the Champions League during his time at Arsenal too, reaching the final and being impressive along the way as a fresh young talent – he played a huge part in the Gunners’ famous 2-0 win over Juventus at Highbury during that campaign run.

10 Kevin De Bruyne – 29 assists

KRC Genk, Chelsea, Manchester City

Given that he now has perennial goalscorer Erling Haaland latching onto his crosses like it’s going out of fashion, Kevin De Bruyne could sharply emerge as one of the list leaders in a few years. As one of only five players to register a century of assists in the Premier League, who’s to say he won’t reach similar heights continentally?

A Champions League medal was missing from his stacked cabinet before 2022/23. The former Chelsea prospect was as instrumental as ever in the run-up to Manchester City’s famous 1-0 win over Inter Milan but was left peering from the touchline after getting injured in the final. Luckily for City’s magician, his teammates got over the line.

9 Andres Iniesta – 29 assists

Barcelona

Andres Iniesta and his former teammate Xavi were never too far apart on the football pitch, and it seems that notion translates into this list, too. With just one fewer Champions League assists (29) than his fellow countryman, the now 39-year-old ran the show in Berlin in Barcelona’s 3-1 final win over Juventus, achieving Man of the Match status.

Assisting midfield partner Ivan Rakitic just three minutes into the all-important showpiece, the Spaniard became the first man to create a goal in three separate Champions League finals. That’s quite the feat, but it just proves that when it mattered the most, Iniesta was there to provide in any way, shape or form.

8 Karim Benzema – 29 assists

Olympique Lyon, Real Madrid

Often overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo, the Frenchman aged like fine wine and added five Champions League titles to his name while plying his trade at Real Madrid. Best known for his goalscoring ability, Karim Benzema became the oldest player to score consecutive hat-tricks in the competition in 2022/23.

But it’s impossible to turn a blind eye to his assist record. A respectable return for someone whose job it is to convert chances instead of creating them, the 97-cap France international notched a total of 29 over his Champions League career. Playing in Europe’s most prestigious competition is somewhat a thing of the past now, however, given he upped and left for the riches of Saudi Arabia in 2023.

7 Thomas Muller – 30 assists

Bayern Munich

Thomas Muller, a mainstay at Bayern Munich, has been a consistent performer for the Bavarians for more than a decade-and-a-half, clocking up 30 assists to prove his European pedigree. The spindly space invader started for Louis van Gaal’s Bavarian iteration in the 2010 Champions League final, a decade before returning to the same stage with the same club.

Of course, there’s no doubt that he will add to his swollen tally in due course on the basis that he still has ample years left in the tank. Not forgetting that Harry Kane, a net-busting centre-forward at the best of times, is now deployed in front of him.

6 Xavi Hernandez – 30 assists

Barcelona

While he might have endured an underwhelming managerial record in European competition, never forget just how good Xavi was as a Barcelona player. A controlled orchestrator in his heyday, the Spaniard was the beating heart of one of Europe’s most supreme sides.

While at Barcelona, Xavi emerged as one of the best midfielders in modern history alongside Sergio Busquets and Iniesta. Playing 767 games for one single club was no easy feat, but any manager was too afraid to drop the midfield maestro, especially given his knack of popping up with a crucial pass. He ended his career with more than 200 assists and 30 of those came in the Champions League.

5 Ryan Giggs – 31 assists

Manchester United

Longevity is on Ryan Giggs’ side here. Having racked up a monstrous 145 Champions League appearances, all for Manchester United, the seasoned Welshman found a teammate on more than 30 separate occasions, showing he had a knack for producing the goods on Europe’s biggest stage.

Given his affinity to the Old Trafford outfit, he is part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s most-used team in terms of appearances and was a key figure in two Champions League triumphs – in 1999 and 2008. A true legend in the eyes of those associated with the Red Devils, but given his above-par record in the Champions League, he can be considered an all-round great of the sport.

4 Neymar – 33 assists

Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain

An integral piece to Barcelona’s treble-winning campaign in the 2014/15 season, which included the Blaugrana adding to their Champions League trophy haul, Neymar can be considered one of the best players of the modern era. Not only were avid watchers of La Liga bewitched by his talent, but his trickery was on show for the world to see on those Tuesday and Wednesday nights before he moved to Saudi Arabian giants Al-Hilal in 2023 – and his 33 assists attest to that.

At the age of 32, the man who has scored an impressive 21 hat-tricks since the turn of the millennium is also the youngest player on this list. On the assumption he is still balling out in his late 30s, he could make a sensational return to Europe in the final years of his playing days.

3 Lionel Messi – 40 assists

Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain

Having to settle for a lesser spot on the podium, the pint-sized Argentine, Lionel Messi, who picked up his record-breaking eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023, is one of the greatest passers that football has ever seen. Interestingly, it took the sporting icon six games to notch his first assist in the Champions League – but, the rest, well… is history.

Setting up the third goal of Samuel Eto’o’s hat-trick to make it 5-0 against Panathinaikos marked an important time in history – from a football standpoint, at least – though no one knew it at the time. Now spending the end of his illustrious career at Inter Miami, Messi’s tally of 40 assists may never be added to.

2 Angel Di Maria – 41 assists

Benfica, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus

It was obscene to even fathom that once Angel Di Maria’s trophy-laden career comes to an end, he could have risen above his compatriot Lionel Messi on this list. He’s already done that, though, and having plied his trade in five of Europe’s top seven leagues – turning out for the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica – there’s no disputing how much of a creative monster the Argentine is.

Despite winning the competition just once, Di Maria has managed to plunder 41 assists across his extensive career, with his most recent goal-creation against AS Monaco taking him one ahead of the great Messi. At the age of 36, there is still some time for him to claim top spot. Watch this space.

1 Cristiano Ronaldo – 42 assists

Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus

Mr Champions League was always going to find himself there or thereabouts at the summit of this list, wasn’t he? Best known for his potency when finding the back of the net, the Portuguese sensation and scorer of the most goals on the international stage post-2000 has also been on hand to assist his teammates in Europe’s most prestigious competition – 42 times to be precise.

Now that he has chosen to spend his twilight years away from Europe, his 42-assist tally is there for the taking and there are a trio of players on this list – and many beyond – that are eyeing up the gold medal. It’s a shame really, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Champions League football go hand in hand.

Data via the UEFA website. Correct as of 03-10-24.