Aarran Summers

We countdown the top five Germans to have won the UEFA Champions League.

5. Dietmar Hamann
 
The top five includes a German player who was part of a UEFA Champions League-winning side that is highly regarded as one of the most dramatic of all time. Dieter Hamann featured in Liverpool’s famous comeback win over AC Milan in 2005. It was a final that no one expected Liverpool to come back from after Milan raced into a three-nil lead at half-time.

Liverpool did come back and won in the penalty shootout. Hamann scored one of Liverpool’s spot-kicks and cemented himself into Liverpool folklore. 
 
4. Matthias Sammer
 
In 1997, Borussia Dortmund shocked the footballing world by winning the UEFA Champions League. Leading by example was their captain Matthias Sammer. It was the club’s most successful period led. Sammer won the German Footballer of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1996.

A defensive genius, often compared to the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, Sammer was noted for his strong physical presence and bursting runs. What made Sammer and Dortmund’s achievements even more special was that won the European title in their rival Bayern Munich’s back yard – the Olympiastadion in Munich. Soon after winning the title, Sammer retired from football through injury. 

3. Philipp Lahm

A Champions League winning captain, Philipp Lahm has enjoyed great success through the years with Bayern Munich. Lahm was the captain of the side that won the 2013 UEFA Champions League title against their nemesis Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium in London.

However, before that victorious night, Lahm suffered the devastation of losing two finals in three seasons. Losses to Inter Milan and Chelsea changed Lahm’s mindset to the point that when they won in London, the left-back revealed the team could have either “broke apart or grow together, but we chose the latter.” Lahm was captain of Bayern for six years and made a total of 105 appearances for Bayern.

2. Bodo Illgner
 
A German goalkeeper who won two UEFA Champions League crowns, Bodo Illgner was an iconic goalkeeper of the 1990s and the turn of the millennium. A quality number one, Illgner was famed for his quick reflexes and was excellent in one-on-one situations. Illgner won his first European title in 2000 following Real’s victory over fellow Spanish giants Valencia at the Stade de France in Paris.

His second was two years later when Real defeated Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park in Scotland. Illgner was replaced by the young Iker Casillas next season and duly retired at the very top. Illgner was only 34.

1. Toni Kroos 
 
The number one in our list is the only German to have won more than two Champions League titles. Toni Kroos is the most successful German in the history of the competition with four triumphs, having also won it for two teams.

Kroos won his first title with Bayern Munich at Wembley Stadium in 2013. Bayern defeated their nemesis Borussia Dortmund in London. Following his move to Spain, Kroos made his name in one of the best dynasties in world football.

It took him three years since his first to win the title with Real Madrid. He ended up with a hattrick of successes under Zinedine Zidane. He duly has become the best German and most successful to play in the UEFA Champions League.