At 36 years old, Di Maria seems to be ageing like fine wine, much like the legends themselves, and has set his sights on claiming the record for the most assists in the Champions League by the end of the current season.
Currently playing for the Portuguese club Benfica, he is the only active player in the top 3 assistors list of the UEFA Champions League. The Argentine winger may become immortalized if he manages to surpass the legends' numbers in this year's competition.
The underrated Argentine sits at third spot with 38 assists
Angel Di Maria has showcased his skills in five of Europe’s top seven league. He's still the top active creator in the competition and has the potential to climb even higher in the rankings. His first Champions League assist was for Benfica against Celtic in October 2007, and from there, he secured a move to Real Madrid where he enjoyed four successful seasons, finally winning the Prestigious League in 2013-14 by defeating city rivals Atlético in the final.
Playing for the Red Devils, the Argentine missed a Season in the Champions League but helped his team to qualify for the competition the next season with 10 assists. Since then, he transferred to Paris Saint-Germain, where he had an impressive 20 assists, with the most link-ups to Kylian Mbappe. He also recorded 3 assists with Juventus before finally returning to Benfica in 2023.
Unfortunately, Benfica failed to qualify for the Champions League last time, but this time, with the team featuring in the Champions League, Di Maria may just surpass two of the sport's greatest legends.
The Greatest Playmaker is at the Silver Spot with 39 assists
Lionel Messi, widely recognized as one of the preeminent creative playmakers, had to wait until his sixth Champions League appearance to showcase his prowess with both goals and assists. His inaugural goal and assist occurred in a 5-0 victory against Panathinaikos at Camp Nou during the 2005-06 season. Messi capitalized on a defensive mix-up to secure Barcelona's third goal and then facilitated Samuel Eto'o's hat-trick goal, concluding the match at 5-0.
In his final appearance in the competition, he provided an assist for a goal by Mbappé against Juventus, merely six weeks before both players played pivotal roles in the memorable 2022 World Cup final. Notably, the player who benefited the most from Messi's assists in the Champions League was Neymar, with a total of five assists - four during their time at Barcelona and one more while at PSG. Throughout his Champions League career, Messi provided 39 assists and scored 129 goals.
Me UCL for a Reason
Mr Ucl holds the record for the highest number of assists in the history of the competition with his tally at 42.
It's not widely known that Cristiano Ronaldo did not score in his first 26 Champions League matches. At that point in his career, many saw him more as a playmaker than a goal scorer.
He provided his first assist against Lyon in 2004-05, and Lyon was the team against whom he recorded the most assists.
His Champions League resume is almost unmatched, boasting 142 goals and 42 assists.
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