Who is the Champions League top scorer? Benzema, Putellas and the best UCL and UWCL goals stats of 2021-22

Karim Benzema tops the Champions League goalscoring charts for 2021-22 and still has the chance to add to his tally.

The French superstar will once again spearhead the Real Madrid attack in Saturday's final against Liverpool in Paris. 

Benzema has already scored a remarkable 15 goals in this season's tournament, and were he to score twice at the Stade de France, he would equal the all-time record for a single campaign, 17, set by former Blancos team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013-14.

Liverpool may boast a brilliant defence, marshalled by Virgil van Dijk, and arguably the world's best goalkeeper in Alisson, but few would bet against Benzema making history, given his rich vein of form.

Indeed, the 34-year-old has scored in five consecutive knockout fixtures – a remarkable run which has featured back-to-back hat-tricks, against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, as well as the decisive spot-kick that sensationally eliminated Manchester City in the semi-finals.

Of course, Mohamed Salah will be intent on stealing Benzema's thunder. 

The Egyptian winger has already admitted that he will be gunning for revenge, given he was forced off with a shoulder injury early on in Liverpool's 2018 Champions League final loss to Madrid in Kyiv.

Salah has struck eight times in this season's tournament and currently sits sixth in the overall rankings. 

Champions League Top Goalscorers 2021-22

A big performance in Paris could see him move up a couple of paces but he certainly won't be overhauling Benzema at this stage, or even Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish striker looked set to battle it out for top spot with Benzema, after 13 goals in just 10 games, but then Bayern Munich were sensationally knocked out in the quarter-finals by Villarreal.

Sebastian Haller was also scoring at a remarkable rate for Ajax before their shock elimination at home to Benfica in the last 16.

Indeed, he became the first man since Marco van Basten to score four goals on their Champions League debut, before then equalling Cristiano Ronaldo's feat of scoring in all six games in the group stage. 

With his first-leg effort against Benfica in the last 16, Haller also became the first man to net in seven consecutive matches in the competition.

Alexia Putellas, meanwhile, scored in eight of her 10 appearances as she ended up finishing as top scorer in the UEFA Women's Champions League with 11 goals.

The Barcelona captain's strike in Saturday's final loss to Lyon may not have sparked the comeback that Putellas was hoping for, but it did at least see her edge ahead of Tabea Wassmuth.

Like Haller, the Germany international also hit the ground running this season, netting five goals in Wolfsburg's opening three group games. 

Wassmuth was also on target in her club's semi-final second leg against Barcelona but Tommy Stroot's team were unable to turn the tie around.

Elsewhere, Catarina Macario shares sixth place with Salah, having capped a remarkable campaign with a goal in Lyon's 3-1 win over Barcelona in Turin.

The United States women's national team forward only started playing professional football last year but she played a key role in her French club reaching this season's final.

Macario netted in both legs of the 4-3 aggregate win over Juventus in the last eight before bagging a crucial double against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.

The top 10 is completed by Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Christopher Nkunku and Riyad Mahrez, all of whom scored seven goals.

Katoto scored in both legs of PSG's UWCL semi-final loss to Lyon but was unable to propel the Parisians to the final.

Nkunku, of course, came through the youth team ranks at the Parc des Princes but he proved himself a future star with his group-stage exploits for RB Leipzig this season, hitting a hat-trick against Manchester City on match day one.

Leipzig failed to make the knockout stage but not before Nkunku had also netted against Club Brugge (three) and former club PSG.

As for Mahrez, the Algerian ace thought that he had sealed Manchester City's place in the men's final with his fine finish at the Santiago Bernabeu but Benzema & Co. had other ideas.

Consequently, it is five-time Champions League winner Benzema who is now in a position to cement his status as one of the game's greatest ever goalscorers at the Stade de France this weekend.