Top ten goals of the group stage UEFA Champions League

With the world’s leading players taking part, it is no surprise the UEFA Champions League produces great goals on any given matchnight. This year’s group stage was no different and out of 247 successful strikes the uefa.com team has picked ten of the best over the past three months, listed below in chronological order. Do you agree with the picks?

• Steven Gerrard

Olympique de Marseille v Liverpool FC, Matchday 1
The Liverpool captain has a prolific record in Europe’s premier club competition and added another special strike to his continental collection when he angled a shot over home goalkeeper Steve Mandanda that dipped so viciously it almost looked like a mis-hit. He added a second six minutes later to secure his side an opening-day victory.

Juan Culio
AS Roma v CFR 1907 Cluj, Matchday 1
Battle-hardened over many a European campaign, Roma were expected to give Romanian debutants CFR a rude awakening at the Stadio Olimpico. However, the Transylvanian side and Culio had different ideas. CFR were a goal down when Culio played the ball into Eugen Trică, who back-flicked a return pass which the Argentinian drilled into the bottom corner from 25 metres. He scored again after half-time and by full time it was the Italian side who had received a wake-up call.

Fernandinho
FC Basel 1893 v FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Matchday 1
Any group stage is going to feature its fair share of spectacular set-piece goals. Marcos Senna, Anders Due, Miguel Veloso and Alessandro Del Piero (twice) were just a few of the players who scored from dead-ball situations but for pure unstoppable power, Fernandinho’s long-range effort at St. Jakob-Park takes some beating.

Lionel Messi
FC Basel 1893 v FC Barcelona, Matchday 3
Messi had already downed Shakhtar with a dramatic last-minute winner on Matchday 2, but for shear impudence his opener in Switzerland takes the prize – and for once, the audacity was not wholly supplied by the Argentinian maestro. After a flowing Barça move, Messi fed Daniel Alves who played a return pass with the outside of his right foot while looking in the opposite direction. It was perfectly-weighted and allowed Messi the simplest of side-foot finishes.

Alessandro Del Piero
Juventus v Real Madrid CF, Matchday 3
Back on 21 October, Juve and their coach Claudio Ranieri were under pressure after an inauspicious start to the season. As he has done so often, though, Del Piero provided the spark his team needed, exchanging passes with Amauri before sending in an early 30-metre effort that dipped over Iker Casillas. The Bianconeri went on to win the match 2-1 and finish top of Group H.

Mirko Vučinić
AS Roma v Chelsea FC, Matchday 4
After losing in London on Matchday 3, Roma needed victory against Chelsea to ignite their hopes of qualification. Christian Panucci and Vučinić had already given the home side a two-goal lead, but the Montenegrin made sure of the points when he robbed John Mikel Obi of possession deep in his own half. He then embarked on a 70-metre run where he rounded Mikel again, before sending Petr Čech the wrong way with a clinical finish.

Giorgos Karagounis
Werder Bremen v Panathinaikos FC, Matchday 4
Panathinaikos had only accrued one point from their opening three games and so it could be said Karagounis picked an appropriate time for his first UEFA Champions League goal in six-and-a-half-years. The Greek side were 1-0 up, but Karagounis sealed the points in emphatic fashion, allowing a throw-in to run across his body before sending in a swerving strike from the corner of the penalty area that gave Tim Wiese no chance. The Greens ended up winning Group B after successes in their two remaining games.

Willian
FC Shakhtar Donetsk v FC Basel 1893, Matchday 5
There were some fine solo goals in the group stage including efforts from Danny, Del Piero and Zé Roberto. Shakhtar were aiming to clinch third place in Group C ahead of Basel and Willian scored his side’s second, setting off on a mazy run which sent several visiting defenders the wrong way, before placing an accurate shot into the far corner.

Jeppe Curth
Manchester United FC v Aalborg BK, Matchday 6
There were several excellent headed goals – ACF Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino scored three himself and Panathinaikos’s Vangelis Mantzios two – but Curth’s perfectly placed effort at Old Trafford, running on to Anders Due’s cross-field pass before bending the ball around Tomasz Kuszczak, was the pick of the bunch.

Arjen Robben
Real Madrid CF v FC Zenit St. Petersburg, Matchday 6
Madrid were already through to the first knockout round, but in Juande Ramos’s first game in charge many players were out to impress the new boss. Raúl González may have scored twice, but it was Robben’s effort which caught the eye. The Dutchman, fed by Raúl, broke clear of the visitors’ defence and, running at full pace, dinked a lovely chip over Vyacheslav Malafeev: raw pace followed by slow-motion precision.