Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded the most assists in UEFA Champions League history, excluding qualifiers. He tops UEFA’s all-time list with 42 assists in a record 183 Champions League games for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus between 2003 and 2022.
Ronaldo, who also holds the record for most goals (140) in Champions League history, made his UCL debut in a Manchester United shirt against VfB Stuttgart in a 1-2 defeat in October 2003.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s best season in terms of assists in the UEFA Champions League was the 2016-17 campaign when the Portugal captain tallied six assists and 12 goals in 13 outings.
Ángel Di María is second with 41 assists in 116 games for Benfica, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. He was particularly at his best during the 2019-20 season when he totalled seven assists in nine UCL games.
His Argentina team-mate Lionel Messi is third with 40 in 163 games for Barcelona and PSG, one fewer than Di María. Neymar is fourth with 33.
Vinícius Júnior of Real Madrid is fifth with 32, and the only one of the top five still playing in the competition. Kevin De Bruyne, now at Napoli, is level with Ryan Giggs on 31, and Xavi Hernández and Thomas Müller have 30 each.
A note on the numbers: these are UEFA’s official figures. Other data providers apply different rules for what counts as an assist. Opta, for example, does not credit an assist when the ball takes a significant deflection off an opponent, or for winning a penalty, and on its count Ryan Giggs is top with 41.
Most assists in UEFA Champions League
| Rank | Player | Teams | Assists |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus | 42 |
| 2 | Ángel Di María | Benfica, Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus | 41 |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona, PSG | 40 |
| 4 | Neymar | Barcelona, PSG | 33 |
| 5 | Vinícius Júnior | Real Madrid | 32 |
| 6 | Kevin De Bruyne | Genk, Chelsea, Manchester City, Napoli | 31 |
| 6 | Ryan Giggs | Manchester United | 31 |
| 8 | Xavi Hernández | Barcelona | 30 |
| 8 | Thomas Müller | Bayern Munich | 30 |
| 10 | Karim Benzema | Lyon, Real Madrid | 29 |
Featured photo: AFP / Marco Bertorello