The two-time Champions League-winning manager Sir Alex Ferguson was obsessed with the benefits of youthful exuberance.
"For young players nothing is impossible," the legendary Manchester United boss gushed. However, there was always a place for an experienced professional in his teams. While the youth "will try and run through a barbed-wire fence," Ferguson said, "older players will try to find the gate".
To still be able to find the net, let alone a gate, at the elite European level long after your peak years, is a truly remarkable feat even Ferguson would appreciate.
Oldest goalscorers in Champions League history
10. Paolo Maldini
Age: 36 years and 333 days
Match: Milan 3-3 Liverpool (25/05/2005)
"I played eight Champions League finals," Paolo Maldini reflected years after the showpiece against Liverpool in 2005, "but people only remember that one."
Most do not recall that game in Istanbul for Maldini's early opener at the ripe old age of 36, but rather the dramatic three-goal comeback which Liverpool embarked upon. Maldini can at least take some comfort from his five Champions League winners' medals.
9. Laurent Blanc
Age: 36 years and 338 days
Match: Olympiacos 2-3 Man Utd (23/10/2002)
Ferguson, that great promoter of youth, took issue with the criticism he received for signing 35-year-old Laurent Blanc in 2001. "People keep going on about his age," Ferguson huffed, "but I've had Steve Bruce at 35 and Bryan Robson at 36 playing important roles here."
Blanc only lasted two seasons at United before retiring - much to Ferguson's dismay - but still had time to score a European goal.
8. Olivier Giroud
Age: 37 years and 38 days
Match: Milan 2-1 PSG (07/11/2023)
Few players could appreciate the cliche of ageing like a fine wine as well as Olivier Giroud. The trained sommelier never had any pace to lose and has thrived in the more tempered tempo of Italian football, netting for AC Milan both home and abroad.
7. Edin Dzeko
Age: 37 years and 54 days
Match: Milan 0-2 Inter (10/05/2023)
After leading Inter to victory over arch-rivals Milan in the 2023 Italian Super Cup, Edin Dzeko was asked how old he would be on his next birthday. "I'm turning 22," he joked.
Four months later, the 37-year-old (sorry Edin) downed Milan again, opening the scoring in a feverish Champions League semi-final which was christened the 'EuroDerby'.
6. Luka Modric
Age: 37 years and 54 days
Match: Real Madrid 5-1 Celtic (02/11/2022)
Somehow, Luka Modric is - and always will be - 45 days older than Wayne Rooney.
While the grizzled former England international was at the helm of DC United, his second coaching gig, Modric was still scoring for the most successful Champions League team in history on the biggest European stage.
5. Javier Zanetti
Age: 37 years and 72 days
Match: Inter 4-3 Tottenham (20/10/2010)
It would be impossible to tell what year it was by looking at a picture of Javier Zanetti. The indefatigable Argentine scarcely aged throughout his glorious two decades at Inter, loyally sticking with the same haircut.
The closest Zanetti's iconic quiff ever came to a stray hair was on the same night he scored his last Champions League goal. The right-back began the game against Tottenham Hotspur with a second-minute goal but ended it getting run around, over and through by a young Gareth Bale.
4. Filippo Inzaghi
Age: 37 years and 87 days
Match: Milan 2-2 Real Madrid (03/10/2010)
Even in the bitter winter of his career, Filippo Inzaghi was still rolling out the hits. By tucking the ball under Iker Casillas, his second of the game after coming off the bench for Milan against the mighty Real Madrid, Inzaghi became the Champions League's all-time top scorer.
For a player Ferguson famously - and unfairly - decried as born offside, it compounded the stereotype that Inzaghi notched his landmark goal from behind Madrid's backline. Fortunately for Inzaghi, he aged out of the game before VAR.
3. Ryan Giggs
Age: 37 years and 290 days
Match: Benfica 1-1 Man Utd (14/09/2011)
"When I arrived, he was playing," Eric Cantona mused on his former Manchester United teammate in 2012. "Now, 15 years after I retired, he's still playing. It's crazy."
While Giggs was scoring his final Champions League goal, Cantona was appearing in his 18th feature film.
2. Francesco Totti
Age: 38 years and 59 days
Match: CSKA Moscow 1-1 Roma (25/11/2014)
Francesco Totti scored his first European goal for Roma before the DVD had been invented. His last strike in the content's premier club competition could be beamed across the globe via Twitter.
Throughout the transition from VHS to video streaming, Totti continued to find the net on the biggest stages, with each goal all that sweeter as it was scored for the club he grew up supporting.
1. Pepe
Age: 40 years and 254 days
Match: Porto 2-0 Antwerp
"I know that I don't have much left," Pepe said after eking out enough to score for Porto as a 40-year-old on his mother's birthday, "but the little that I have left I will do everything possible to honour this sport."
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This article was originally published on 90min as The oldest goalscorers in Champions League history.
