Ranking the 15 Craziest Goals in Champions League History
As the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League draws to a close with Saturday’s final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, it’s time to look back at some of the competition’s craziest goals.
Ranking the most unhinged scoring feats from a competition that has featured the best players on earth for more than three decades is no easy matter, and there’s almost certain to be a goal left out that you think shouldn’t be.
Nonetheless, this is an attempt to reach a fair conclusion based on four criteria:
- Difficulty: How little margin for error was there in the technique(s) involved?
- Novelty: How unique and/or beautiful was the goal?
- Ingenuity: How much outside-the-box thinking did the goal require?
- Significance: How much did it contribute to the team’s competitive aims?
Also, only goals from the Champions League era (the 1992-93 season and onward) were considered.
No more stalling: It’s time for our 15 craziest UEFA Champions League goals of all time.
15. Origi Completes Liverpool’s Devastatingly Quick Corner
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Few players ever had a penchant for weirder goals than Liverpool’s Divock Origi, and his contribution to our rankings certainly falls into that category.
After falling to Barcelona 3-0 in Leg 1 of the 2019 semifinals, Liverpool had roared back to a 3-0 lead in Leg 2 and tied on aggregate.
That’s when corner-taker Trent Alexander-Arnold and Origi linked up to catch a spiraling Barca defense napping.
Alexander-Arnold feigned like he was going to take the corner normally and then sprinted to slot a direct ball into the box before most players for either team were set.
Origi’s first-touch finish still had to be nearly perfect, and it was—a deft side-foot into the top left corner where there was a very small window to work with.
While it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as some goals on the list, its genius is obvious, as was its significance in sending the Reds through to the 2019 final.
14. Vieirinha Finishes Off Wolfsburg’s 11-Pass Move
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As far as goals that involve the entire team, it’s hard to get better than Wolfsburg’s second goal in a 3-2 win over Manchester United in late 2015 that sent the Red Devils crashing out at the group stage.
For those curious, the BBC put together a pass chart on the play in their game recap here.
Portuguese fullback Adelino Vieirinha had the blessing of finishing off the mesmerizing 11-pass move with a relatively simple tap-in.
Before that, however, seven players made those 11 passes, including two from goalkeeper Diego Benaglio and three—including the final square ball—by the goal’s primary architect, Julian Draxler (second video below).
It’s hard to pick Draxler’s best contribution: the first cross-field diagonal pass, the incisive dribbling to finally work into the penalty area, or the mindfulness to find Vieirinha to his left for a simple tap-in rather than taking a more difficult shot himself.
While other goals on this list score higher overall across our four criteria, this one does as well as any at embodying the meaning behind the phrase, “the beautiful game.”
13. Savićević Seals Milan’s Shocking Final Victory
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As the least recent goal on the list, part of what stands out about Dejan Savićević’s brilliant half-volley in AC Milan’s shocking 1994 final win over Barcelona is his relatively pedestrian tempo that would look a bit foreign in the modern game.
Even while counter-pressing to win the ball back for his side in the attacking half, the Montenegrin is scarcely above a jog when he regains possession, effectively says the hell with it, and unleashes a half volley from an audacious angle when there were so many more practical options available.
Like, for example, dribbling further into a wide-open penalty area.
Poor Barcelona ‘keeper Andoni Zubizarreta can’t even be blamed for never considering that Savićević might shoot. And yet he did, guiding his arcing shot over Zubizarreta at the near post before it descended gently over the goal line and inside the far stick.
Milan had already scored twice in the first half. Savićević’s memorable tally two minutes after the break made it clear beyond all doubt that the day belonged to the Italians, and not their heavily favored Catalan opponents.
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12. Florenzi Connects from Deep for Roma
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Some wingers try to work the ball down the field, and others just think: “Nuts to that. I’ll just shoot from here.”
Alessandro Florenzi fell into the latter category for what is surely the most memorable goal of his career and one that got him nominated for the 2015 Puskas Award.
After winning the ball in his own half in Roma’s Matchday 1 group clash against Barcelona in 2015, Florenzi found some space on the right flank. But with only one attacker in front of him, he spied Barca ‘keeper Marc-André ter Stegen off his line and let fly with a perfectly weighted right foot.
Yes, Florenzi got a friendly kiss off the left post. (If you watch the aftermath, it’s possible that ter Stegen is actually berating his woodwork for not doing a better job of defending.)
But with vision like that and the deceptively difficult task of hitting that kind of shot on the run, Florenzi deserved the bounce as Roma secured a 1-1 draw and a point they would need to progress from the group in the 2015-2016 competition.
11. Ronaldo’s 40-yard Thunderbolt vs. Porto
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At first viewing, Cristiano Ronaldo’s bombastic strike for Manchester United in the second leg of a 2009 quarter-final against Porto looks like your standard long-range missile: a great goal, but not otherworldly.
Then you press rewind. And each time you do, you swear the shot location moves five yards further back.
The then-Red Devils star had no business shooting from that kind of position. Eyeing by the vertical cut of the grass, the ball was 35 yards from the goal line. By the time it traveled diagonally across the face of the goal and beyond flailing Porto goalkeeper Helton, it had probably carried closer to 40 yards.
It was eventually voted as the inaugural Puskas Award winner, though that may have owed partly to a weaker field than future years, based on the then-newness of the competition.
It also decided the two-leg tie as Man U won 1-0 on the night and progressed 3-2 on aggregate, en route to an appearance in the final where they succumbed to Barcelona.
10. Mexes Does the Unthinkable for Milan
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French center back Philippe Mexes only scored two UCL goals in his entire career, but my god did he make his final one count.
AC Milan already had a lead and a man advantage when Mexes went forward for a 71st-minute free kick in a 2012 group-stage encounter against Anderlecht.
Riccardo Montolivo sent the set piece diagonally up the field, where Mexes took a controlling first touch with his chest.
Perhaps the ball sat higher than intended, or perhaps he knew all along the acrobatic feat he was about to try.
Whatever the case, with his back to goal at the edge of the 18, Mexes vaulted his legs over his torso and sent an arcing overhead kick beyond stunned ‘keeper Silvio Proto.
Mexes’ reward was an early rest seven minutes later as Milan completed a 3-1 victory that helped them seal a second-place group finish. He wouldn’t score again until the final day of the domestic Serie A campaign six months later.
9. Stankovic’s Volley from Midfield Stuns Schalke 04
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Schalke 04 provided some of the “crazy” component for this next selection.
It’s not as though goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s decision to race outside his box for a diving defensive header was even the wrong choice.
It’s just decidedly not what you would’ve expected. Nor would most have foreseen Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic reaching said clearance and, on his first touch, unleashing a side volley that hummed serenely over the hopeless Neuer, still 25 yards beyond his goal line, and then dropped neatly into the open net he’d left behind.
Stankovic’s contribution proved to be for naught as Schalke roared back to a 5-2 win over Inter Milan in the first leg of their 2011 quarter-final. But the joke was on them.
While Inter would have better days in the UCL, including this year, Schalke would never again get past the round of 16 and later see a stunning fall to the 2. Bundesliga, where they currently reside.
The swift reaction and improvisation required, as well as the element of difficulty on the volley, is why this goal ranks slightly above that of Florenzi, whose contribution had several similar elements.
8. Essien Sends Stamford Bridge into a Frenzy
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Chelsea’s 2009 semi-final against Barcelona had been a cagey affair until, instantly and emphatically, Michael Essien brought it to life.
Following a 0-0 draw in Leg 1 at the Bernabeu, Chelsea knew any kind of victory in front of their home fans would take them through to the final.
And Essien must have made the Blues faithful believe they were well on their way when he arrived in the ninth minute to wallop home a sumptuous volley.
The opportunity came haphazardly when Frank Lampard’s initial cross attempt was blocked by a Barca defender. The ball looped into the air and looked for all the world like it would drop to the Stamford Bridge pitch, about 25 yards away from goal.
But Essien reacted superbly and timed his arrival just as the ball reached volleying height, then let fly on a right-footed strike that found the top corner and sent the place into delirium.
It was a goal worthy of winning any cup tie. But it didn’t. Iniesta leveled the match in second-half stoppage time, and Barca progressed on away goals.
7. Ronaldo Goes Airborne Against His Future Team
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We’ve reached the point of the list where the standard has become absurdly high with Ronaldo’s second contribution—arguably the most famous of his outlandish career haul of 140 UCL goals.
After hustling down a ball to help a Real Madrid teammate force a save from Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon, Ronaldo manages to almost sneak out of view of the defenders as the play cycles to the opposite flank.
That’s part of what allowed him the time to creep back into a dangerous spot and line up Dani Carvajal’s cross for his perfectly struck bicycle kick, one that left Buffon no chance and doubled Real’s lead in Leg 1 of their 2018 quarterfinal.
While his Madridistas left Turin with a 3-0 lead in the aggregate series, every goal proved necessary after a furious Juve rally in Leg 2 narrowed the aggregate score to 4-3. But Real Madrid moved on and Ronaldo won his sixth and last UCL title.
Juventus were so impressed that they moved to sign him the next season.
6. Weah Devours the Bayern Munich Defense
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There are more prolific all-time great goalscorers, but few were as consistently artistically satisfying as George Weah, including in this sublime effort for Paris Saint-Germain away to Bayern Munich in a 1994 group-stage encounter.
What makes this goal so enthralling is how many great elements of play it combines. First, there’s an intricate passing sequence that is impressive in its own right.
Then there’s Weah sending two Bayern Munich defenders to the old Olympiastadion turf and transforming a third into a dog chasing his own tail.
Then there’s the finish, unleashed powerfully into a surprising location, the top near corner, beating an all-time great in Oliver Kahn almost no one would dare even try.
The 80th-minute tally sealed PSG’s 2-0 win over the German opponents and was one of Weah’s signature moments en route to his European Footballer of the Year honor in 1995.
PSG advanced to the semifinals before losing to AC Milan, the club Weah played for next season.
5. Mandzukic Completes a Foot Tennis Equalizer
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Strictly speaking, Mario Mandzukic’s side-winding volley to pull Juventus level against Real Madrid in the 2017 final wasn’t as difficult as several of the other volleys and the bicycles we’ve already discussed.
But that was only the final part of an astounding goal that had its roots in the foot tennis courts on Brazil’s beaches.
After center back Leonardo Bonucci played the long diagonal ball to the left flank, Alex Sandro and Gonzalo Higuain also connected on the buildup without the ball touching the pitch again.
That set up Mandzukic’s chest trap and volley over the sprawling Keylor Navas for one of the most majestic-looking goals ever scored in a major final. It also leveled the occasion at 1-1 in the 27th minute after Ronaldo’s 20th-minute opener.
It was the star of an all-time classic, right? Wrong. Instead, Real Madrid pulled away to a comfortable 4-1 with three goals after halftime, meaning Mandzukic’s exceptional tally sometimes gets lost in the historic retelling.
4. Messi Slices Apart His Biggest Rivals
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In the long rivalry between Ronaldo’s Real Madrid and Lionel Messi’s Barcelona, Messi’s best chapter may have come in the 2011 UCL semi-finals.
With both sides reduced to 10 men in Leg 1, Messi took over in the final 15 minutes. And after he gave his side the lead in the 75th, he completed a stunning solo run past four Madrid defenders in the 87th to silence most of the Estadio Bernabeu.
There are similarities here between Messi’s run and Diego Maradona’s brilliant goal against England (not the one that VAR would’ve overturned) from the 1986 World Cup. But one interesting difference is Sergio Busquets’ role in Messi’s contribution.
After Messi gives Busquets the ball, Busquets simply stays put and waits for the Argentine to arrive and take it back.
The effect is somewhat similar to a basketball screen. While the defender knows it’s Messi who will drive the ball further forward, the mere presence of Busquets’ body gives Messi the half step he needs to break through that line and then terrorize the rest of Real Madrid’s defense.
Messi used that to his advantage to give Barca a 2-0 win. A 1-1 draw in the return fixture sealed their place in the final.
3. Bale Rides His Bike to UCL Glory
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While Ronaldo’s famous bicycle kick against Juventus may have been closer to the textbook example of the technique, Gareth Bale’s stunning facsimile in the 2018 final for Real Madrid against Liverpool is of a higher order for a couple of reasons.
For starters, it proved to be the deciding goal in a Champions League final, breaking a 1-1 deadlock en route to a 3-1 win. There’s also the fact that, on close examination, Bale’s level of difficulty was considerably higher.
Unlike Ronaldo, Bale was creeping ever so slightly toward goal when Marcelo’s cross came in beyond the penalty spot, forcing the Welshman to sort his feet and quickly change direction.
The finish also comes from further out, and given the sudden reaction required, Bale can’t get as much power on the effort and thus has a much narrower window for beating goalkeeper Loris Karius.
Somehow, Bale not only made perfect contact with his left foot but also gave it perfect weight and placement to settle peacefully beyond Karius’ dive and send Real Madrid toward yet another UCL crown.
2. Bressan Makes an Eternal Impression
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In terms of sheer outrageousness, few goals scored anywhere on earth can beat out Mauro Bressan’s jaw-dropping strike from Fiorentina’s 1999 group-stage encounter against Barcelona.
It’s not a particularly appealing buildup, and maybe that’s part of the point. Both Barca and Fiorentina are sort of just scrapping outside the Barca box. And suddenly, with his back to goal, Bressan eyes up the ball above his head and thinks, “Sure, I’ll try a bicycle kick from 27 yards out.”
It’s impossible to overstate the level of confidence, spontaneity and/or obliviousness that it takes to make that kind of decision on the UCL stage. And Bressan doesn’t just pull it off. He takes the paint off the underside of the crossbar.
The best part? It was his only career UCL goal.
Bressan’s tally set off an entertaining 3-3 draw that ultimately helped both teams advance to the second group phase. Fiorentina would advance no further and have only made two UCL appearances since.
1. Zidane Hits It from out of the Sky
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Have you ever known what was going to happen before it happened, and then when it happened, you still couldn't believe it?
That’s what it felt like to witness Zinedine Zidane’s famous match-winning volley for Real Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final, as the ball took figuratively forever to fall out of the sky, then found itself instantaneously in danger of ripping a hole through the net’s top left corner.
Zidane’s strike to decide a 2-1 victory over Leverkusen is exceptional, even if he has time to measure it. But what really makes the goal special is what immediately precedes it, the somewhat unusual 1-2 between Roberto Carlos and Santiago Solari down the left, followed by Carlos playing what, in any other circumstance, would be an absurd cross.
When have you ever seen a service into the box that went as high as it did far? And when have you seen it land in perfect position for its recipient to hammer it out of the air?
That’s exactly what transpired on one magical night at Hampden Park. Even on a midweek in a second-division fixture, it would be an all-time amazing goal. That it decided the top honor in club football makes it the craziest goal ever scored in UCL history.
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