Europe's most efficient scorers:Goals per game

Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in UEFA Champions League and European Cup history, but when it comes to goals per game he is seventh in the all-time rankings, just behind Lionel Messi.
The Argentinian averages 0.80 goals per game (100 in 125 matches) in Europe's top competition to Ronaldo's 0.77 (121 goals in 157 games).
Gerd Müller's 0.97 goals per game ratio continues to look an unbreakable record. In order to reach a similar figure, Messi would need to fire hat-tricks in his next 11 games in the competition, while Ronaldo would require trebles in each of his next 16.
NB: Only players who have featured in 20 or more matches in the competitions are included in these lists

Top goals per game averages in UEFA Champions League/European Champion Clubs' Cup

0.97: Gerd Müller (Bayern München) – 34 goals in 35 games
0.86: José Altafini (Milan, Juventus) – 24 goals in 28 games
0.85: Ferenc Puskás (Budapest Honvéd, Real Madrid) – 35 goals in 41 games
0.84: Alfredo Di Stéfano (Real Madrid) – 49 goals in 58 games
0.82: José Águas (Benfica, Austria Wien) – 18 goals in 22 games
0.80: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 100 goals in 125 games
0.77: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid) – 121 in 157 games
0.76: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille, AC Milan, Bayern München) – 28 goals in 37 games
0.75: Eusébio (Benfica) – 47 goals in 63 games
0.74: Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV, Manchester United, Real Madrid) – 60 goals in 81 games

• Messi and Ronaldo, goal for goal

Top goals per game averages in UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup

1.10: Jupp Heynckes (Borussia Mönchengladbach) – 23 goals in 21 games
1.00: Darko Kovačević (Crvena zvezda, Real Sociedad, Juventus, Olympiacos) – 20 goals in 20 games
0.94: Radamel Falcao (Porto, Atlético) – 31 goals in 33 games
0.81: Dieter Müller (Köln, Stuttgart, Bordeaux) – 29 goals in 36 games
0.76: Ruud Geels (Club Brugge, Ajax, PSV) – 16 goals in 21 games
0.76: Anthony Yeboah (Eintracht, Leeds, Hamburg) – 16 goals in 21 games
0.75: Alan (Salzburg) – 18 goals in 24 games
0.75: Torbjörn Nilsson (IFK Göteborg, Kaiserslautern) – 18 goals in 24 games
0.73: Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) – 24 goals in 33 games
0.73: Allan Simonsen (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Barcelona) – 19 goals in 26 games

Top goals per game averages in all UEFA club competitions*

0.87: Gerd Müller (Bayern München) – 62 goals in 71 games
0.86: Stéphane Guivarc'h (Auxerre, Rennes, Newcastle) – 24 goals in 28 games
0.86: Ferenc Puskás (Budapest Honvéd, Real Madrid) – 37 goals in 43 games
0.84: Radamel Falcao (Porto, Atlético, Monaco) – 48 goals in 57 games
0.83: Alfredo Di Stéfano (Real Madrid) – 50 goals in 60 games
0.82: Ivan Mráz (Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Praha, Dukla Praha) – 18 goals in 22 games
0.82: Jupp Heynckes (Borussia Mönchengladbach) – 45 goals in 55 games
0.80: Kees Kist (AZ Alkmaar, Paris Saint-Germain) – 20 goals in 25 games
0.80: Denis Law (Manchester United) – 20 goals in 25 games
0.80: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 103 goals in 129 games
0.80: Kevin Hector (Derby County) – 16 goals in 20 games

Top goals per game averages in EURO games**

0.91: Davor Šuker (Croatia) – 20 goals in 22 games
0.79: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands) – 19 goals in 24 games
0.78: David Villa (Spain) – 18 goals in 23 games
0.75: Toni Polster (Austria) – 15 goals in 20 games
0.71: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark) – 22 goals in 31 games
0.70: Raúl González (Spain) – 19 goals in 27 games
0.67: Thierry Henry (France) – 18 goals in 27 games
0.67: Marco van Basten (Netherlands) – 16 goals in 24 games
0.65: Shota Arveladze (Georgia) – 17 goals in 26 games
0.64: Filippo Inzaghi (Italy) – 14 goals in 22 games
* UEFA club competitions = UEFA Champions League/European Champion Clubs' Cup, UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup, European/South American Cup
Several players scored at a higher rate but did not play enough games to meet UEFA.com's criteria, most notably:
UEFA Champions League/European Champion Clubs' Cup
1.10: Claudio Sulser (Grasshoppers) – 11 goals in 10 games
1.08: Denis Viollet (Manchester United) – 13 goals in 12 games
1.00: Torbjörn Nilsson (IFK Göteborg) – 14 goals in 14 games
All UEFA club competitions
0.94: Georgi Asparuhov (Botev Plovdiv, Levski Sofia) – 17 goals in 18 games
0.94: Kiril Milanov (Levski Sofia) – 17 goals in 18 games
0.89: Borivoje Kostić (Crvena zvezda) – 17 goals in 19 games
EURO games
1.33: Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 16 goals in 12 games
1.00: Michel Platini (France) – 10 goals in 10 games
0.92: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) – 12 goals in 13 games
** Qualifiers and finals games

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