For some, the Champions League is the yardstick for how good you are as a footballer. Doing it across 38 matches is one thing but try doing it under the lights against the best in Europe.
Plenty of tried, too. Champions League masterclasses are reserved for only the finest of a generation – plus the odd exception – and usually, they help carve your name into the history books.
So who has the finest-ever display in continental competition?
The 20 best individual Champions League performances ever
20. Sergio Ramos vs Bayern Munich, 2014
He's often been criticised for his defending over the years but this was the match that lifted Sergio Ramos as an undisputed great of a generation simply for his all-round game.
The Real Madrid captain not only got a clean sheet defensively but headed two goals in the first 20 minutes to send Los Blancos into the Champions League final. This performance became the very definition of what a leader at the back should be.
19. Kylian Mbappe vs Barcelona, 2021
A photo was captured during Paris Saint-Germain's Camp Nou demolition of Kylian Mbappe, sprinting away from Gerard Pique; the veteran defender has a handful of the young forward's shirt and looks like he's about to slip over.
It summed up an entire night in which Mbappe ran riot. He was unstoppable, scoring a sparkling hat-trick and cutting through the Barcelona defence every time he got the ball. Reportedly he asked manager Mauricio Pochettino before kick-off if he'd ever beaten Barca before, to which the reply was a no. "Well tonight's your first," the Frenchman apparently said – and what a way to deliver the victory.
18. Jack Wilshere vs Barcelona, 2011
Jack Wilshere was 19 years old, up against Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in the Barcelona midfield. There were seven World Cup winners alone in Barca's side: they were easily the best team on Earth. And the Hitchin schemer pocketed all of them.
The game that sent Super Jack's hype into orbit, the Arsenal midfielder controlled and dazzled, carrying the ball through defenders, piercing them with laser-guided passing and lifting the Emirates crowd that night. It wasn't quite such a happy story later – in the second leg or the latter stages of Wilshere's injury-ridden Arsenal days – but for one night at least, the teenager stood on top of the world.
11. Paul Lambert vs Juventus, 1997
Paul Lambert was signed by Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer from Motherwell. He ended up thwarting Zinedine Zidane in the Champions League final, to help land Borussia Dortmund's first-ever trophy.
Yes, that really happened. Lambert's man-marking job on Zizou was one for the ages, as he stifled the fiery Frenchman from creating anything of note for Juventus. The Scotsman even laid on an assist in that game: fittingly, however, Zidane would finally win the Champions League in Scotland against a German side, five years later.
16. Serge Gnabry vs Tottenham Hotspur, 2019
Perhaps it was expected that Amazon would gloss over this absolute spanking in their Tottenham Hotspur documentary. But that cold autumn night, north London was most certainly red.
And it was former Gunner Serge Gnabry who had fire in his heels all evening, slicing through the Spurs defence at will, every time he picked up the ball. Gnabry set up Lewandowski's first, before blowing the previous season's runners-up away with four goals. He was sensational that evening and it marked Bayern out as an early favourite in the tournament.
15. N'Golo Kante vs Manchester City, 2021
For as long as he's been in England, N'Golo Kante has been ruling any midfield he's stepped into. That peaked in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City.
The Frenchman has long been thought of as a destroyer but Kante's all-action, complete display both broke up attacks, carried the ball out and kept Chelsea ticking, as City desperately searched for an equaliser in Porto. There were few standout stars in the Blues' ranks on the way to the showpiece, with stunning strikes and virtuoso performances shared – but Kante's in the final was particularly special.
14. Neymar vs PSG, 2016
How Paris Saint-Germain lost 6-1 at the hands of a side they'd thumped 4-0 previously... they're probably still working out. The fact that Messi was pretty much anonymous, too? That only adds to the drama.
Neymar took centre-stage for this one, grabbing Barca by the scruff of the neck to score two and dictate play all match. This was the game that he came of age, assuming responsibility and it's probably the defining reason PSG shelled out close to £200m on his services. It's become an iconic moment in football.
13. Frank Lampard vs Liverpool, 2008
Frank Lampard fell to his knees after smashing home a penalty and you could see the anguish. The midfielder's mother had not long passed away and it must have taken so much strength to play in the Champions League semi-final, days later.
That Lampard turned in an all-time great Chelsea performance and banished the demons of Liverpool knocking the Blues out in 2005, is even more astounding. He was a Stamford Bridge legend by this point and this game only further cemented him as one of the best footballers in Europe of the 21st century.
12. Thierry Henry vs Inter Milan, 2003
There's unstoppable... and there's Thierry Henry in 2003/04. Away in the San Siro at Inter Milan, the Frenchman destroyed the Nerazzurri, toying with defenders as Arsenal ran riot. It was payback, at least, for a 3-0 defeat at Highbury weeks prior.
“Funny that, isn’t it?” Thierry Henry remarked to FFT in 2006, when asked about his extraordinary record against Italian sides. “I hear so often that it’s easier to play against English defences…”
11. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Atletico Madrid, 2017
By this point, Atletico Madrid were sick of the sight of their city rivals. Real Madrid had beaten them in the final in 2014, the quarters in 2015, the final again in 2016... and now this.
Cristiano Ronaldo turned on the style once more, having already scored a perfect hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the previous round. He single-handedly destroyed Diego Simeone's side – you know, that bunch who can defend better than anyone – as Real took one giant step into another final. When CR7 was this good, there was no getting close to him.
