‘Not Possible' – Outrage as Ronaldo is left out of Champions League all-time XI

Fans have criticised France’s most popular publication, L'Equipe, after the paper left out Cristiano Ronaldo from its all-time Champions League XI. 

Ronaldo is regarded as the greatest player to play in the Champions League (European Cup), breaking and setting numerous records that will stand for years. 

However, despite his impact in the competition, L’Equipe’s Vincent Duluc failed to include him in the all-time XI, although there is a spot for Ronaldo’s long-time rival, Lionel Messi. 

Liverpool legend Ray Clemence is in goal, while the back four is made up of Franz Beckenbauer, Franco Baresi, Dani Carvajal and Paulo Maldini. 

Luka Modric and Andres Iniesta are part of a midfield group of five that includes Lionel Messi, Johan Cryuff and George Best. The biggest controversy is up front, with Di Stefano selected ahead of Ronaldo. 

While it is a strong team on paper, the publication came under intense criticism for omitting Ronaldo from the team. 

One fan wrote on X: Champions League all-time XI without Cristiano Ronaldo? ;. Impossible. 

“How can he call himself a journalist and not include CR7? The guy is the top scorer, top assister in the competition, and has won it 5 times.. it's like not including Pelé in an all-time World Cup players XI.. 🫩,” another fan said. 

The criticism did not stop there, with someone saying I'm not a fan of CR, but not putting him in this starting eleven shows bad faith.

Another fan said: Not putting the best player in the history of the UCL in the lineup, that's still the madness of the 11. Cristiano Ronaldo has more goals in the UCL knockout stages (67) than Aguero+Suarez+Drogba+Henry+Rooney+R9 combined (65). 

Meanwhile, one fan had an issue with the inclusion of George Best, saying: Putting Best (21 matches in the competition) ahead of CR7 is really such a hipster move lmao. 

Ronaldo’s omission from the list is inexcusable, given that his Champions League record speaks for itself. 

The Portuguese star is the all-time top scorer in the competition’s history with 140 goals in 183 games. He has also played the most games in the competition and has won five UCL titles.

Ronaldo also has the most goals in a single Champions League campaign (17) and has more goals (67) in the knockout stages than any other player in history.