7 Players Who Need Champions League Glory to Complete Their Legacy
It's been another eventful Champions League week, as we got more clues about just who'll reach the final in Berlin come the end of the season.
The showpiece event in Germany promises to feature some of the best players in world football, but will it include some of those who have yet to taste Champions League success?
Some of the following players have played in the Champions League for many years, whilst some are still in the early phase of their careers.
All of them have one thing in common, though, that they are desperate to win the greatest prize that European football has to offer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
1 of 7
Everyone's favourite quotable Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic has tasted plenty of domestic success over his career with some of the biggest clubs in the world, but Champions League success has so far eluded the deadly forward.
A league-title winner with Ajax, Juventus (later revoked), Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, the closest that Zlatan has come to Champions League glory was when he joined Barcelona in 2009, shortly after they'd become European champions by beating Manchester United in Rome.
Ibrahimovic played in Barca's European Super Cup final win that summer, but as of yet the big prize has eluded the 33-year-old, who must wonder if he'll ever win it.
Luis Suarez
2 of 7
Consistent controversies are likely to dominate Luis Suarez's legacy, but now he's swapped Liverpool for Barcelona, he's guaranteed to have consistent cracks at winning a first Champions League crown.
The Uruguayan never played in the competition for the Reds, but he did so for his previous club Ajax.
The pressures are different at Barca, though, where the forward will be expected to lead the charge for the club's fifth European crown alongside Lionel Messi and a certain other player who has yet to lift the famous trophy.
Neymar
3 of 7
He's only 22 and this is only his second season in Europe, so it is a little odd to be talking about the Champions League adding to Neymar's legacy already. Still, the idea than the Brazilian star won't win the tournament during what is sure to be a long and successful career is a strange one.
In fact, the idea that Neymar won't win the tournament whilst with Barcelona surely won't even be considered by the club's fans, and it might just be a matter of when and not if he helps the club win the crown.
Francesco Totti
4 of 7
The downside to being a loyal, one-club man is that you can miss out on the opportunities that are afforded to others.
Roma's Francesco Totti has one Serie A title and two Coppa Italia successes to show for his remarkable 22-year service in the first team, but he's never really got close to winning the biggest prize on offer in Europe.
At 38, Totti recently became the oldest goalscorer in Champions League history when he netted in a group game at Manchester City, but wouldn't a fairytale success in the tournament be just what this superb player deserves?
Cesc Fabregas
5 of 7
He missed out when Arsenal lost to Barcelona in the final of 2006, and then Cesc Fabregas could never pick up the Champions League trophy when he moved back to his boyhood club in 2011.
Now at Chelsea and still just 27 years old, Fabregas has a great chance of both Premier League and European glory in his first season at Stamford Bridge, where his incisive midfield play has already made him a huge hit with Blues fans and a key figure for Jose Mourinho's team.
Sergio Aguero
6 of 7
Will Sergio Aguero eventually have to leave Manchester City if he is to ever win the Champions League? That remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that the Argentinean has the quality to shine for any club on the continent.
A Europa League winner with Atletico Madrid in 2010, Aguero has matured into a complete forward since his move to City a year later, but until now the furthest he's gone in the Champions League was when City reached the second round last season, only to lose to Barcelona.
Gianluigi Buffon
7 of 7
As strange as it is to believe, veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has never tasted Champions League glory during what has now been 19 years at the top.
Thirteen of those years have been spent with Juventus, and the closest he's got to Champions League success in that time was an agonising penalty-shootout defeat to AC Milan at Old Trafford in 2003.
The 36-year-old picked up the UEFA Cup with Parma in 1999, but that defeat in Manchester 11 years ago must remain as one of the few regrets in a career of a man who has had incredible success, including winning the World Cup in 2006.
