Champions League 40-goal club: Karim Benzema closes in on Robert Lewandowski tally

Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the game as Real Madrid safely booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League yet again at the expense of Liverpool on Wednesday evening.

Protecting a 5-2 lead from the first leg, the holders rarely looked in any danger of shipping one goal - yet alone the three Liverpool required - before Benzema sealed a 6-2 aggregate triumph at the Bernabeu.

The goal was Benzema's 89th in the Champions League, leaving him just two short of Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski as the third-highest scorer in the competition's history.

Other members of the 40-goal club such as Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller, Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe all drew blanks in the latest round of fixtures, but the likelihood of a new member joining in the near future was heightened by Erling Braut Haaland's historic five-goal haul, taking him up to 33 in just 25 Champions League outings overall.

Here, Sports Mole looks at the latest standings in the 40-goal club.

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1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)

Goals: 140 Appearances: 183 Ratio: 0.77

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2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 129 Appearances: 163 Ratio: 0.79

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3. Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona)

Goals: 91 Appearances: 111 Ratio: 0.82

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4. Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)

Goals: 89 Appearances: 148 Ratio: 0.60

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5. Raul (Real Madrid, Schalke 04)

Goals: 71 Appearances: 142 Ratio: 0.50

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6. Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)

Goals: 56 Appearances: 73 Ratio: 0.77

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7. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Goals: 53 Appearances: 140 Ratio: 0.38

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8. Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)

Goals: 50 Appearances: 112 Ratio: 0.45

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9. Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)

Goals: 49 Appearances: 58 Ratio: 0.84

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10. Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan, Chelsea)

Goals: 48 Appearances: 100 Ratio: 0.48

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11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 48 Appearances: 124 Ratio: 0.39

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12. Eusebio (Benfica)

Goals: 46 Appearances: 65 Ratio: 0.71

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13. Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus, AC Milan)

Goals: 46 Appearances: 81 Ratio: 0.57

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15. Mohamed Salah (Basel, Roma, Liverpool)

Goals: 44 Appearances: 79 Ratio: 0.56

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15. Didier Drogba (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)

Goals: 44 Appearances: 92 Ratio: 0.48

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16. Neymar (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 43 Appearances: 81 Ratio: 0.53

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17. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

Goals: 42 Appearances: 89 Ratio: 0.47

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18. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Manchester City)

Goals: 41 Appearances: 79 Ratio: 0.52

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19. Kylian Mbappe (Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain)

Goals: 40 Appearances: 61 Ratio: 0.66

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