Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Messi or Haaland: Thierry Henry ranks top 3 strikers in the world

Former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was asked in a post-match presentation show as to who were his top three strikers in the UEFA Champions League currently. The answers, while a little controversial, were backed by good arguments from the former French star forward. Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe were some of the names that missed out but to be fair Messi is not really a striker and Mbappe does switch to the wings.

Speaking as a pundit for American broadcaster CBS’ coverage of the Champions League, along with him in the studio were Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards. Henry was asked who his top three players were in the UCL right now starting with number three, the former Premier League star responded with Robert Lewandowski as his number three, and that followed with some 'oooos' from Carragher and Richards. He then explained his reason for the Polish striker being his third option and not second or first:

"Lewandowski. You know what, I was waiting for the ‘oooo’ to calm down, now it’s down I can talk,” he told CBS. "Lewandowski, why? He’s been doing to for a long time, one of the best predators that I’ve seen in the game. But he’s won one Champions League. It is enough, but the guys ahead of him did it multiple times, together, I’ll give you a clue, and times and times again. So, you have to respect that because those guys will tell you, longevity, winning and scoring goals is not easy at that level. And they are still doing it.”

Number two is a France and Real Madrid forward

Henry then said that his number to would be Karim Benzema who just recently became the fourth-highest goalscorer in UCL history and also became the first player ever to score in 17 consecutive Champions League seasons. His reasoning for Benzema being in second place is:

Because, I think for me, he is the most complete striker in the world. Complete doesn’t mean you’re the best. He has answered the call since Ronaldo left, he has won the Champions League so many times and that’s good enough I think for number two.

Number one is the highest goalscorer in UCL history

Then asked who was number one for him he said that it was five-time Ballon d'Or and Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo, his explanation for why he is number one is:

"Number one is the master, Ronaldo. You have to give this guy a lot of credit. Why? Because simply what he has done in the national team, what he’s doing right now for United, what he was doing even for Juve, Real Madrid obviously, United before," said Henry.

(Image: AP)