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Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) second-half meltdown against Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie means French clubs' agonizing wait for European glory continues.
Mauricio Pochettino's men were hoping to become only the second French team in history to win Europe's premier club competition. However, a second-half capitulation in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu last night (March 9) meant they were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Los Blancos.
Olympique Marseille's triumph in 1993 remains the only instance on which a Ligue 1 side has lifted the Champions League trophy.
French superstars took center-stage as Real Madrid beat PSG in the Champions League Round of 16
Although the French giants had no choice but to return empty-handed from Madrid, Les Bleus stars were exceptional on the night. Kylian Mbappe was a thorn in Los Blancos' side all night, netting once and having two goals ruled out for offside. Mbappe also scored the game's only goal in the first leg in Paris.
Meanwhile, Karim Benzema stole the headlines with a sensational second-half hat-trick for the Spanish giants which came in a mere 17 minutes. Interestingly, he broke Robert Lewandowski's record of 23 minutes, which was set barely a day earlier on March 8 against RB Salzburg.
Both players have lit up the Champions League with their terrific displays in recent years. Here, we take a look at three players who, alongside the deadly duo, are among France's top five scorers in the competition:
#5 Jean-Pierre Papin (28 goals in 37 appearances)
The legendary French striker is best known for his time with Marseille, where he scored 175 goals in 266 games and remains the club's all-time record scorer.
Papin also won four league titles and was named the 1991 Ballon d'Or winner. He finished as the top scorer in three different editions of the European Cup, managing 19 goals in just 21 games in the competition for the French giants.
The Frenchman won the tournament once with AC Milan in 1994, but followed it up with an underwhelming spell with Bayern Munich. Papin earned 54 caps for the national team, scoring 30 goals.
#4 Antoine Griezmann and David Trezeguet (29 goals)
In fourth place, we have a tie between legendary Juventus striker David Trezeguet and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann. Trezeguet, who retired in 2015, hit his tally of 29 goals in fewer games (58 games), although Griezmann (76 games) does not operate as a traditional centre-forward.
Griezmann will have the opportunity to add to his tally when his Atletico Madrid side face Manchester United in the Round of 16 next week (March 15).
Neither of the duo have managed to win the Champions League in their careers but are FIFA World Cup winners with the national team. Trezeguet finished with 34 goals in 71 games for Les Bleus and won the World Cup in 1998. He also scored a dramatic golden goal winner against Italy in the final of Euro 2000 to win his side the trophy.
Griezmann, on the other hand, has 42 strikes from 102 appearances and became a world champion in 2018.
#3 Kylian Mbappe (33 goals in 53 appearances)
At the rate he is going, it is difficult to see a future in which Kylian Mbappe does not finish as the highest French scorer in the Champions League.
The 23-year-old has 33 goals and 23 assists in just 53 UCL games and is only getting better. The last two seasons have also seen him register his best figures in the competition. Mbappe managed eight goals in the 2020-21 campaign and recorded six goals and assists apiece this time around.
Mbappe netted in both legs of PSG's Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid but was unable to stop his team from crashing out at the hands of the Spanish side. But with his best years ahead of him, Mbappe has ample time to get his hands on European club football's most coveted trophy.
The Frenchman has recorded 157 goals in 206 appearances for PSG to go with 24 strikes in 53 matches for Les Bleus. His goal in the second leg against Los Blancos on Wednesday saw Mbappe go past Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal tally for the Parisians.
#2 Thierry Henry (50 goals in 112 appearances)
One of the greatest players to have emerged from France, Thierry Henry has cemented his place among football's deadliest strikers. He won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 with Les Bleus, and his exploits for his country were matched only by his stunning record for Arsenal.
Henry scored 228 goals and provided 106 assists in 376 games for the Gunners, winning two league titles and three FA Cups. He also finished as the Premier League's top scorer in four seasons and reached the 2006 Champions League final.
His only triumph in the competition, however, came with Barcelona's all-conquering side in 2009.
Despite never hitting double figures in a single Champions League season, Henry was remarkably consistent. He scored at least five goals in seven of the 13 editions he was part of.
Henry also scored 51 times in 123 games for the national team and will be remembered as arguably the greatest striker of his era. He remains France's all-time leading scorer, although Olivier Giroud (46) and Antoine Griezmann (42) have a chance of surpassing Henry's landmark figure.
#1 Karim Benzema (79 goals in 137 appearances)
The man of the moment, Real Madrid's Karim Benzema created history on March 9 against PSG. The striker netted thrice to help his team reverse a 2-0 deficit on aggregate and, in the process, became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.
The three goals took Benzema's Champions League goal tally to 79, which is 29 more than second-placed Thierry Henry, with respect to French goalscorers. At 34, one could be forgiven for thinking Benzema's days as an elite striker are numbered, but he continues to defy father time.
If anything, the Real Madrid star is aging like fine wine and his tally of eight goals from seven UCL games in the ongoing season is the best of his career so far.
Overall, Benzema's record currently stands at 309 goals in 592 games for Los Blancos and 36 strikes in 94 games for Les Bleus. The four-time Champions League winner is undoubtedly one of the greatest strikers to have graced the game.
