As the elite competition in Europe, the Champions League is a fair measure of just how good a player you are compared with the very best of your contemporaries. Doing it across 38 matches is one thing, but try doing it on a wet Tuesday night in...er...Madrid.
Here's some of the finest displays we have ever seen on the Champions League stage.
We've taken into consideration the impact on the result, the standard of opposition, what it meant to their side's Champions League campaign, and the stage of the competition it happened at.
The 20 best individual Champions League performances ever
20. Alisson vs PSG, 2025
It became pretty clear in the knockout stages that it was going to take something special to stop PSG from romping to their first-ever Champions League trophy. And, in fact, nobody succeeded. But Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson gave it a damn good go more or less single-handed.
The soon-to-be Premier League champions had not faced a challenge like this all season, with the Parisiens firmly on top right from the outset in the first leg of their round of 16 clash at the Parc des Princes. PSG held 65% possession and had 28 attempts on goal to Liverpool's two.
Yet it was Liverpool who won the tie thanks to Harvey Elliott's late goal from the bench, the stage having been set by Alisson keeping out every single one of PSG's shots on target - a couple in spectacular fashion - and stopping several extremely dangerous looking balls across the face of his goal.
19. Kylian Mbappe vs Barcelona, 2021
A photo was captured during Paris Saint-Germain's Camp Nou demolition of Kylian Mbappe, sprinting away from Gerard Pique; the veteran defender has a handful of the young forward's shirt and looks like he's about to slip over.
It summed up an entire night in which Mbappe ran riot. He was unstoppable, scoring a sparkling hat-trick and cutting through the Barcelona defence every time he got the ball. Reportedly he asked manager Mauricio Pochettino before kick-off if he'd ever beaten Barca before, to which the reply was a no.
"Well tonight's your first," the Frenchman apparently said – and what a way to deliver the victory.
18. Paul Lambert vs Juventus, 1997
Paul Lambert was signed by Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer from Motherwell. He ended up thwarting Zinedine Zidane in the Champions League final, to help land Borussia Dortmund's first-ever trophy.
Yes, that really happened. Lambert's man-marking job on Zizou was one for the ages, as he stifled the fiery Frenchman from creating anything of note for Juventus.
The Scotsman even laid on an assist in that game: fittingly, however, Zidane would finally win the Champions League in Scotland against a German side, five years later.
17. Declan Rice vs Real Madrid, 2025
We all remember Declan Rice's two free kicks as Arsenal smashed Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of this quarter-final tie - but the England midfielder genuinely could have had four in a sensational performance.
Rice was denied a headed goal by an excellent Thibaut Courtois save in the first half, but there was no stopping his free kick as he gave the Gunners the lead after the break. His second free kick was even better - absolute postage stamp into the far top corner - and he had another effort cleared off the line in between.
Add in a typically dominant midfield showing to have put Arsenal on top and help them keep a clean sheet, and you have one of the finest midfield displays you're likely to see.
16. Serge Gnabry vs Tottenham Hotspur, 2019
Tottenham had reached the Champions League final the previous season to suggest they had got to grips with what it took to succeed in Europe. Spursy no more...right?
Wrong. Mauricio Pochettino's side made a shaky start to the group stage, blowing a two-goal lead away to Olympiacos, then hosted Bayern Munich in the next game. A Son Heung-Min opener made for a promising start, but Joshua Kimmich equaliser three minutes later and Robert Lewandowski gave the visitors the lead off Gnabry's assist almost on the stroke of half time.
That hat proved to be a massive psychological blow for Spurs. Gnabry got a rapid-fire double within ten minutes of the restart, then added another two late on either side of another Lewandowski effort. Just had to be a former Arsenal player, didn't it?
15. N'Golo Kante vs Manchester City, 2021
For as long as he's been in England, N'Golo Kante has been ruling any midfield he's stepped into. That peaked in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City.
The Frenchman has long been thought of as a destroyer but Kante's all-action, complete display both broke up attacks, carried the ball out and kept Chelsea ticking, as City desperately searched for an equaliser in Porto.
There were few standout stars in the Blues' ranks on the way to the showpiece, with stunning strikes and virtuoso performances shared – but Kante's in the final was particularly special.
14. Neymar vs PSG, 2016
How Paris Saint-Germain lost 6-1 at the hands of a side they'd thumped 4-0 previously... they're probably still working out. The fact that Messi was pretty much anonymous, too? That only adds to the drama.
Neymar took centre-stage for this one, grabbing Barca by the scruff of the neck to score two and dictate play all match.
This was the game that he came of age, assuming responsibility and it's probably the defining reason PSG shelled out close to £200m on his services. It's become an iconic moment in football.
13. Frank Lampard vs Liverpool, 2008
Frank Lampard fell to his knees after smashing home a penalty and you could see the anguish. The midfielder's mother passed away just days before; it must have taken so much strength even to play in the Champions League semi-final.
That Lampard turned in an all-time great Chelsea performance and banished the demons of Liverpool knocking the Blues out in 2005, is even more astounding.
Lampard was already Stamford Bridge legend by this point, but this game properly cemented him as one of the best footballers in Europe of the 21st century.
12. Thierry Henry vs Inter Milan, 2003
There's unstoppable... and there's Thierry Henry in 2003/04.
Away in the San Siro against Inter, the Frenchman destroyed the Nerazzurri, toying with defenders as Arsenal ran riot. It was payback, at least, for a 3-0 defeat at Highbury weeks prior.
“Funny that, isn’t it?” Thierry Henry remarked to FFT in 2006, when asked about his extraordinary record against Italian sides. “I hear so often that it’s easier to play against English defences…”
11. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Atletico Madrid, 2017
For the fourth year in a row, the Madrid derby played out in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Real had won all three of the others, beating Diego Simeone's side in the final in 2014 and 2016, and knocking them out in the quarter-finals in 2015.
The two sides had scored just five goals between them in as many sets of regulation 90 minutes across those encounters; three of Real's goals in the 2014 final game in extra time. So everyone expected another tight, cagey couple of games when the two once again met in the semi-finals in 2017.
Cristiano Ronaldo had other ideas: he headed home the opener just ten minutes into the first leg at the Bernabeu, then put home two more in the final 15 minutes to complete his hat-trick and leave Atletico with practically no chance. So it was: Real went on to beat Juventus 4-1 in the final, with Ronaldo getting a brace.
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