Top 10 Not to Win CL

With the Champions League back on our screens, is it sometimes unbelievable looking at the players who have never won it. Some are journeyman who just miss out despite being at the top clubs, some were experts in being runners-up, and some were just too loyal to one team, but who are the greatest players never to win the Champion League? We are focusing on those since the competitions re-branding in 1992 that led to it being called the Champions League rather than the European Cup.

10. Lilian Thuram

The defender surprisingly holds the record for the most capped French player of all time, and was part of the team that won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000. Not one of the most dazzling French players like Zidane or Henry, he was one of the players that would get in to most teams due to his versatility of being able to play in the centre or on the right side of the defence. Playing for some excellent teams in his career, he was part of a Parma side that boasted great talents from 1996 to 2001 when they had three of the players on this list in their ranks. He went on to play for Juventus where he failed to win Europe's best trophy and left after they were relegated to Serie B after the Calciopoli scandal. He then went to Barcelona, straight after they won the Champions League, and retired the season before they would win it again, quite unfortunate for the Frenchman.

9. Patrick Vieira

Another Frenchman and another part of the world-beating French side of 1998, Vieira played at the top level for several years and was in the Arsenal team where they were unbeaten for the whole campaign in the 2003/04 season. He left the gunners the season before they would reach the final and who knows, he may have helped them lift the trophy if he had stayed. He then found his way to Inter in 2006, but struggled to hold down a starting place at the end of his time there, and left for Manchester City in January 2010, the season that Inter would go on to win the Champions League, another player that came so close to winning the ultimate prize at club level.

8. Dennis Bergkamp

The Dutchman was another player who is also known for his time in North London. Another element of the invincibles side, Bergkamp stayed at Arsenal for that extra year than Vieira and made it to the Champions League final, but was an unused substitute as they conceded two goals in the last 13 minutes to succumb to defeat to Barcelona. It was the final competitive game that he would be part of Arsenal for as he hung up his boots on a career that saw him win the Premier League on three occasions. He was part of one of the greatest team Arsenal have had and will forever been known to their fans, but he will be ruing the fact he never managed to lift the Champions League.

7. Michael Ballack

After joining Leverkusen in 1999, Ballack and his team started to be temporary contenders for the Bundesliga title. But for two seasons it wasn't meant to be, as they lost on the final day of the season in 1999/00 season to give up the title, and that was the start of their misery. In the 2001/02 season they were this time challenging for a treble. They had a fantastic season that saw Michael Ballack be a talisman in the side, but they gave up a five point lead across the last three games of the season, handing the title to Dortmund. They then went to the Champions League final where Zidane's famous volley rounded off a 2-1 win for Real Madrid, and then Bayer lost in the DFB-Pokal final as well where they lost to Schalke. So they did complete the treble, but the treble they won, was the one of runners-up. He then had spells at Bayern Munich and at Chelsea, where he had great success, but never won the Champions League, He came runner-up once again with Chelsea in 2008, with a penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United.

6. Fabio Cannavaro

The last defender to win the Ballon D'or, Cannavaro somehow didn't win the Champions League. He played for some of the greatest clubs in European football, such as Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter and was part of that Parma side with Thuram. It seemed his best chance to win the Champions League would come at Real Madrid though with the large history and current superstars that the club boasted. But it never came to that as the emergence of Barcelona soon came and the dominance of the English and Italian clubs was still there. He may have won the World Cup in 2006, but winning the Champions League would have sealed an almost perfect career.

5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

One of only two players on this list still playing, Ibrahimovic is a player, that had he not been in the same era as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, may have been the greatest of his time. The Swede has played for the best clubs in the world and has often been heralded as someone who knows how good he is. He may lack blistering pace, but his outstanding finishing, power, and athletisism, has made his one of the most lethal strikers of the modern day. He may never get another chance to win the Champions League, but he most certainly did in the past after playing for the best. He left Inter Milan to go to Barcelona in 2009, where the club from Catalonia had just won the competition, but Inter would go on to win it the following year, whilst knocking out Barcelona in the semi final. Barcelona would go on to win the Champions League in 2011, but Ibrahimovic was out on loan at AC Milan, and made his move permanent after not being in Pep Guardiola's plans. PSG never reached the final in his time at the club and meant he may never get the chance to lift the trophy again.

4. Pavel Nedved

Another former Juventus player on this list, Pavel nedved enjoyed a huge part of his career in Turin before retiring in 2009. He actually came into the light at Sparta Prague in the nineties and made a move to Lazio in 1996. He enjoyed a good spell at Lazio by winning the league in 2000 before moving to the Old Lady in 2001 where he became a hero after committing his future to the club despite being relegated to the second tier. He won the Ballon D'or in 2003 after reaching the Champions League final and winning the league, but he couldn't play in the final of the Champions League as he was suspended, so who knows, they could have gone on to win it with his help?

3. Gianluigi Buffon

The other player on this list still playing, Buffon is arguably the best goalkeeper of his generation and has reached the final of the Champions League on two occasions. He has a better chance of winning the trophy than Ibrahimovic due to him still competing in this seasons edition, and everyone would agree that he deserves to win it more than most. One of the most likeable players in the world, he has been an outstanding goalkeeper for the last two decades and he too made his name at Parma. He joined Juventus in 2001 and still holds the record for the largest sum paid for a keeper, around £30million. He, just like Nedved, stayed with Juventus through the time of relegation and has now been part of a side that has dominated Italian football for the last five years. Who knows if he will go on to win the Champions League, but it is certain that he will go down as a legend in the game.

2. Lothar Matthaus

One of the best midfielders in German history, Lothar Matthaus reached two finals of the competition, once before the re-branding and once after. He was a small player, but was excellent in the centre of the pitch for Bayern Munich in his two spells at the club. He holds the record for Germany caps and featured at a record 5 World Cups. He came so close on two occasions to winning Europe's top prize, as on both, his Bayern Munich side surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1, once to Porto, and once in that famous defeat to Manchester United in 1999. Matthaus left Bayern in 2000, the season before they won the Champions league. He was at the club for 12 years, and it is strange to think they couldn't win it in that time.

1. Ronaldo

One of the most complete strikers of all time, Ronaldo was the ultimate player during his career. If it wasn't for injuries, we may be looking at one of the best players ever, if not the best. The Brazilian enjoyed extremes highs in his career that took him across the continent. Playing for some of Europe's bests, his was a very talented goal scorer, with his worst goal scoring period coming at AC Milan where he scored 9 goals in 20 games, still not a bad record. He made his breakthrough at PSV where he scored 42 goals in just 46 games for the club before moving to Barcelona. His one season there was another success after scoring 47 goals in 49 games in all competitions when he was just 20 years old. He left though after contract talks broke down and he left for Inter by breaking the world record fee for two years in a row. His development continued and he was becoming the best striker in the world and lead Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002. It was at Inter that he started to suffer from injuries with his knee though. He moved to Real Madrid in 2002 for a huge fee that became around £40million and he was excellent when he was fit. Injuries always prevailed though and in his final two years at the club he struggled to find himself on the pitch again. He never even managed to play in a Champions League final and it leaves you wondering, if it wasn't for the injuries, what he really might have become?