Ranked! The 20 best individual Champions League performances ever

10. Gareth Bale vs Inter Milan, 2010

No one would have blamed Gareth Bale for keeping his head down in that second half at the San Siro. Tottenham were 4-0 down, after all.

What happened next is one of the most extraordinary performances in modern memory – even more incredible because of the fact that Bale was so individually brilliant, despite Tottenham's collapse in the first half. The Welshman tore Inter Milan to shreds with an unbelievable hat-trick – it wasn't quite enough but when Inter came to north London weeks later, the wide-man led them to victory.

9. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Atletico Madrid, 2019

"2–0 lead is the worst lead", according at least to the cliche. It certainly is when you're Atletico Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo is on the opposing team.

Different shirt, same outcome for the Portuguese forward who picked Juve up in the second leg and scored yet another stunning European hat-trick to silence Simeone's side. There was no doubting him as the biggest big-game player on earth – potentially of all time – after this one. 

8. Dusan Tadic vs Real Madrid, 2019

So little was expected of Ajax after a 2-1 first-leg defeat to Real Madrid, that Sergio Ramos picked up a booking to keep him fresh for the next round. Somehow though, in the cauldron of the Bernabeu, Dusan Tadic put on the performance of a lifetime, as Real were knocked out of the Champions League for the first time in four years.

The ex-Southampton star was note-perfect throughout, running rings around the likes of Modric and Kroos; he set up the first and the second – the latter with a Zidane-like pirouette before he slid in David Neres – and thumped the third into the top corner. For 90 minutes, he was the most brilliant footballer in the world. 

7. Ronaldo vs Manchester United, 2003

“My first ever game that I saw live, he [Ronaldo] was playing in it,” the striker told The Guardian. “I always remember it; it was in 2003 and he scored a hat-trick. I was only young, but he was my brother’s favourite player, so I’ve grown up watching so much of him.”

What a game to see as your first. This was vintage R9, as the Brazilian ghosted through United's backline, time and time again. He was explosive, of course, but not the supercharged Inter striker that we'd watched for years: this felt almost effortless – and that made it all the more jaw-dropping. Real would lose the game but these three away goals saw them through in quite some style at Old Trafford. 

6. Lionel Messi vs Bayern Munich, 2015

It's perhaps poetic that Pep Guardiola was foiled three times by three different Spanish sides in three semi-finals of the Champions League while managing Bayern Munich. He just couldn't defeat the country that he'd redefined the football of forever – and the most iconic performance of those six games came from his former protege. 

This was peak Lionel Messi – and that's saying something. The little genius scored twice, gave Neymar a sumptuous assist and simply waltzed through the Bayern back four like they weren't even there. The image of Jerome Boateng slipping onto his backside as he's wrong-footed has become the profile picture of this performance – but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

5. Lucas Moura vs Ajax, 2019

Some may say that Lucas Moura's whirlwind against Ajax will forever go down as perhaps the most world-class performance from someone who wasn't that world-class. He had absolutely no right to do what he did that night.

Tottenham were dead and buried. Yet in 45 minutes, Moura resurrected Spurs with the most inspired one-man comeback that the Champions League had ever seen, scoring three away goals to put the hosts to the sword. It was breathtaking beyond belief: and it was one of the best games in the tournament's history. 

4. Lionel Messi vs Arsenal, 2010

Lionel Messi scored five goals against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012 – but considering it was a second leg and that the first was already won, we're not putting it on this list. And anyway, this four-goal spectacular was Messi's defining performance.

Every time he got the ball, Arsenal players looked terrified. He could beat them with pace, a pass or raw power and they knew it. He was just quicker, physically and mentally, and the ease with which he racked up four goals was just frightening. He's had plenty of standout moments in Europe over the years – but few 90-minute displays as perfect as this. 

3. Roy Keane vs Juventus, 1999

The ultimate captain's contribution. Roy Keane never got to play in the 1999 Champions League final, due to suspension – but he sure did play his part to make sure Manchester United got there. 

The Irishman managed to keep a lid on Edgar Davids, Antonio Conte and Didier Deschamps for 90 minutes, stopping almost every Juve attack by himself. Not only that, he was responsible for everything great about United building forward. He was a tornado on and off the ball that night. 

2. Robert Lewandowski vs Real Madrid, 2013

We were all set for an El Clasico final, weren't we? And then Robert Lewandowski happened. 

The archetypal striker's display, Lewy tormented Madrid with a performance of poise, precision and absolutely no mercy whatsoever. Dortmund were more intense, quicker, stronger and more important, deadlier and the Polish forward summed up everything to love about them that night. 

1. Steven Gerrard vs AC Milan, 2005

What a game. What a comeback. And what a captain.

Mere words do not do justice to the performance that Steven Gerrard conjured to drag Liverpool back from the brink in Istanbul that night. It wasn't just that they were facing a collection of the greatest players in the world, or that confidence had been zapped – it was the never-say-die spirit of their captain, the tenacity and brilliance on and off the ball that turned defeat into heaven for the Reds. 

Gerrard turned the tide almost all by himself that night to deliver a Champions League trophy to Merseyside for the fifth time. It was utterly spellbinding – and it might never be topped in the pantheon of all-time great European displays. 

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