Madrid duo lead goals chase
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Article summary
The race to finish top scorer in the UEFA Champions League features the competition's all-time leading marksmen, Raúl González and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Article body
Five-star service
Both Raúl and Van Nistelrooy have registered five times in the UEFA Champions League this season, joining Chelsea FC's Didier Drogba, AC Milan's Kaká and Fernando Morientes of Valencia CF at the head of the list. Raúl struck twice and Van Nistelrooy also found the net in Madrid's 3-2 first knockout round first-leg victory against FC Bayern München last week, adding further lustre to their already-impressive haul in the history of the competition.
Müller's mark
Raúl's 56 goals in 107 UEFA Champions League games is a record and his tally of 58 in all UEFA club competition matches stands just four behind the all-time mark of 62 set by Gerd Müller. Van Nistelrooy is chasing his Madrid team-mate with 48 goals from 68 outings in the UEFA Champions League and the Dutchman holds the record for the highest number in a season after scoring 12 times for Manchester United FC in 2002/03.
Shevchenko chasing
The man sitting in third spot in the UEFA Champions League all-time ranking is Chelsea FC's Andriy Shevchenko, who also netted a first-leg goal at FC Porto last week to move his career total to 45 from 85 appearances. The Ukrainian international is level with Raúl in the scoring chart for all UEFA competitions on 58 goals and Müller's long-standing record would appear to face a serious threat on two fronts.