The Champions League was born in 1992 as UEFA opted to revamp the old European Cup.
Gradually, the continent's premier cup competition changed to feature more teams from the biggest leagues.
It meant that, despite the name, clubs no longer needed to be champions of their respective leagues in order to qualify, but it arguably made the competition more fun and certainly harder to win.
Here, a look at some of the landmark goals in the Champions League since its inauguration in the 1992/93 season...
Daniel Amokachi (Club Brugge vs CSKA Moscow, November 1992)
The first two rounds of the inaugural Champions League were considered as qualifying, with the tournament proper kicking off in the group stages, featuring eight teams across two sectors.
Played in home and away matches with the winner of each advancing to the final, the group stages kicked off on November 25th and Club Brugge's Daniel Amoakchi was the scorer of the Champions League's first-ever goal, netting the winner after 16 minutes against CSKA Moscow.
Marco van Basten (AC Milan vs IFK Göteborg, November 1992)
Two hat-tricks were scored in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League by PSV pair Juul Ellerman and Romário in 1992/93, but the first treble in the competition proper was netted by Marco van Basten for AC Milan against IFK Göteborg on November 25th, 1992.
Van Basten hit all four goals in a 4-0 win at San Siro, therefore also becoming the first player to score four times in a Champions League match.
Basile Boli (Olympique Marseille vs AC Milan, May 1993)
Olympique Marseille were the inaugural winners of the Champions League, beating AC Milan by a single goal at Munich's Olympiastadion in May 1993.
Basile Boli scored the winner late in the first half with a header from a corner, becoming the first player to convert in a Champions League final.
Zlatko Zahovič (Porto vs Rosenborg, October 1996)
Porto beat Rosenborg 3-0 at home in the Champions League group stages in October 1996 and Zlatko Zahovič opened the scoring for the Portuguese champions at the Estádio das Antas.
The Slovenian's strike was the 500th in the Champions League. It set Porto on their way to a big win and the Dragons went on to top Group D, before losing over two legs to Manchester United in the last 16.
Dmitri Khokhlov (PSV vs Benfica, December 1998)
The Champions League's 1,000th goal was scored by former Russia striker Dmitri Khokhlov in December 1998.
Khokhlov opened the scoring for PSV in a 2-2 draw at home to Benfica, with Ruud van Nistelrooy hitting a late leveller after Nuno Gomes had netted twice for the Portuguese side in Eindhoven.
Hans-Jörg Butt (Hamburg vs Juventus, September 2000)
Former German international goalkeeper Hans Jörg-Butt scored 34 goals during his professional career, with all of those coming from the penalty spot.
Among those were three in the Champions League and curiously, all were scored in games against Juventus – for Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, respectively. His goal for Hamburg in a thrilling 4-4 draw with Juve in September 2000 was the first scored by a goalkeeper in the Champions League.
Fernando Couto (Lazio vs Nantes, September 2001)
Lazio crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages after winning just two games and losing the other four in 2001/02.
Beaten home and away by Nantes, Lazio did take the lead against the Ligue 1 side in Rome as Fernando Couto netted the Champions League's 2,000th goal, but the Eagles went on to lose the game 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
David Trezeguet (Juventus vs Olympiacos, December 2003)
David Trezeguet scored twice for Juventus in a 7-0 win for the Bianconeri against Olympiacos in the Champions League in December 2003.
The French forward's low drive which opened the scoring in Turin was the 3,000th goal in the Champions League. Juve went on to lose to AC Milan on penalties in the final.
Peter Crouch (Liverpool vs PSV, April 2007)
Liverpool beat PSV 4-0 on aggregate in the Champions League quarter-finals in April 2007 and Peter Crouch's winner at Anfield in the second leg was the competition's 4,000th goal.
The Reds went on to make the final after edging out Chelsea in the last four, but were beaten 2-1 by AC Milan in Athens.
Luisão (Benfica vs Hapoel Tel Aviv, September 2010)
Benfica beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0 in their Champions League opener in 2010/11 and Luisão's strike in that match was the competition's 5,000th goal.
The Lisbon side were eliminated in the group stages after finishing third in their group, but went on to make the semi-finals of the Europa League, eventually losing out to fellow Portuguese side Braga.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen, March 2012)
Lionel Messi was the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match and the Argentine produced the feat in a knockout tie in March 2012.
After scoring once in a 3-1 win away to Bayer Leverkusen in February 2012, Messi hit five in a 7-1 victory at Camp Nou as Barça advanced 10-2 on aggregate. Luiz Adriano and Erling Haaland have since matched Messi's achievement of scoring five in a Champions League game.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid vs Manchester United, March 2013)
Sergio Ramos scored some big goals for Real Madrid in the Champions League, including key strikes in the 2014 final wins against Atlético Madrid.
An own goal by Ramos against Manchester United in March 2013 was also significant as it was the 6,000th goal scored in the Champions League. After Nani's controversial red card eight minutes later, Madrid went on to win the match and the tie thanks to goals from Luka Modrić and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain vs Malmö, September 2015)
Ángel Di María opened the scoring after just four minutes as Paris Saint-Germain beat Malmö 2-0 in the teams' Champions League group game in September 2015.
The Argentine winger's effort was the 7,000th goal in the Champions League and the Parisians went on to win the match 2-0 as Edinson Cavani netted just after the hour mark.
Érik Lamela (Tottenham vs Barcelona, October 2018)
Tottenham were well beaten by Barcelona in the Champions League at Wembley in October 2018, but Érik Lamela scored a landmark goal in Spurs' 4-2 defeat to the Blaugrana.
The Argentine's curler from outside the box brought Tottenham back within a goal of Barça and was the 8,000th goal in Champions League history. Lionel Messi later scored his second of the night in the final minute to round off a big win for the Catalan club.
Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea vs Atlético Madrid, March 2021)
Chelsea won the Champions League for a second time in 2021 and in the round of 16, a 3-0 aggregate victory over Atlético Madrid set the Blues on their way in the knockout phase.
After a 1-0 win in Madrid, goals from Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri secured a 2-0 victory in the return at Stamford Bridge. The left-back's effort, which was scored deep in added time, was the 9,000th goal in Champions League history.
Sergio Ramos (Sevilla vs PSV, November 2023)
Sergio Ramos will always be associated with the Champions League and the centre-back's final goal was the 10,000th in the competition's history.
Ramos got on the end of a free-kick into the box to open the scoring against PSV in November 2023 and Sevilla later doubled their lead through Youssef En-Nesyri, but PSV scored three late on to seal an impressive comeback as the home side finished the game with nine men.
