Top 5 Thursday - Greatest Players never to have won the UEFA Champions League

Widely considered as the biggest club competition in world football, the Champions League is the pinnacle of European Football, and for many great players, winning it has been the stand out success of their career. Numerous football legends have tasted success in Europe, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrea Pirlo, but for every Karim Benzema there is a Jose Bosingwa, making it even more outrageous that the following players have never won on Europe's biggest stage.

5. Ronaldo

The original Ronaldo remains one of the greatest players in football history, having struck fear into defenders for years . 'The Phenomenon' won two Ballon D'or awards, two World Cups, two Copa Americas and several league titles, but remarkably never picked up a Champions League medal. Despite turning out for European giants such as both Inter and AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid, the original Ronaldo never tasted Champions League success.

4. Miroslav Klose

Up next is the man who broke Ronaldo's World Cup goalscoring record in 2014. Klose spent a disappointing spell with German giants Bayern Münich from 2007-2011, but was unable to deliver Champions League success. Although he averaged a goal every 1.67 games at Werder Bremen, Klose saved his best form for international duty. Scoring 71 goals in 137 caps for Germany, Klose won the golden boot at his home World Cup in 2006, and in 2014 finally tasted World Cup success in Brazil. However, the Champions League ultimately evaded the reach of Klose, as he retired in 2016 after a 5 year spell in Italy with Lazio.

3. Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro is a legend of Italian and European football. Just like Klose and Ronaldo, Cannavaro tasted victory in the World Cup, having captained Italy to success in Germany in 2006. Cannavaro was a tough tackling, no nonsense defender, who turned out for 3 different Champions League winning teams in Inter, Juventus and Real Madrid, but never managed to win himself. Perhaps Cannavaro's greatest achievement is being the only defender in recent memory to have won the Ballon D'or (2006). With Cannavaro now in management with Tianjin Quanjin, a move to European management could be on the horizon. Will Cannavaro finally get his hands on the trophy as a manager?

2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

What can we say about Zlatan? Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Some call him the most arrogant footballer of all time, other call him God, but we like to call him 'The Second Best Player never to have won the Champions League' (although we wouldn't say that to his face!). Despite having played for no less than SIX Champions League winning teams, Zlatan has never won a European medal. Ibrahimovic's arrogance is undeniably justified, given his scoring stats. Having won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France, Zlatan has scored 381 goals, and has been constantly ranked as one opt the best footballers in the world after Messi and Ronaldo. Can Zlatan finally break his Champions League duck under the guidance of Jose Mourinho at Man Utd? Watch this space.

1. Gianluigi Buffon

At number one on our list is legendary Italian number one Gianluigi Buffon. Gigi has won everything on offer at least twice (inc. 9 Serie A titles) since joining Juventus from Parma in 2001. Everything except the Champions League that is. Having experienced heartbreak in the final in both 2003 and 2015, Buffon is the 4th World Cup winner on our list. However, after last night's 3-0 demolition of Barcelona, Juventus are many bookies' favourites for victory in Cardiff in May. Could Gigi finally get his hands on the cup and escape the shadow of the mighty John O'Shea?