The incredible XI of all-time greats who have never won the Champions League

The Champions League is without question the biggest club competition on the planet.

Every single year, the very best players in world football do battle with one another and European nights seem to always provide a ridiculous amount of entertainment.

It’s the competition that all footballers are desperate to win and there are some, like Cristiano Ronaldo, who’ve held the coveted trophy aloft as many as five times.

That’s a seriously impressive achievement and it’s one that’s even more remarkable when you look at how many all-time greats have not triumphed in the Champions League.

In fact, you can create an entire XI of world-class footballers, past and present, who’ve never tasted European success.

Don’t believe us? Well, here’s the evidence…

Buffon is one of the greatest goalkeepers in history, winning a ridiculous number of trophies at Juventus and a World Cup with Italy. But in the Champions League, he was never able to go all the way. Buffon tasted defeat in the 2003, 2015 and 2017 finals, which is just heartbreaking for him.

The most capped player in France’s history and a World Cup winner, yet Thuram never got his hands on the Champions League trophy. Like Buffon, the versatile defender was part of the Juventus side that lost in the 2003 final on penalties to AC Milan.

Cannavaro might be the last defender to win the Ballon d’Or – a feat he achieved in 2006 – but Champions League success always eluded him. The small, yet powerful, centre-back never even had the privilege of playing in a final, despite donning the jerseys of Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Blanc was a world-class centre-back in his heyday and even finished fourth in the voting for France’s best player of the 20th century. But the World Cup