8 Players You Totally Forgot Won The Champions League | OneFootball

The UEFA Champions League is the pinnacle of club football, pitting the best teams and players from across Europe against each other in a contest for continental supremacy.

It has been the stage for some of the sport's greatest players to showcase their incredible talent, including the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but not all players that have lifted the trophy are household names.

Join GIVEMESPORT as we look at seven players you might have totally forgotten won the Champions League.

8 Jonathan Greening - Manchester United

Manchester United's treble-winning team of 1998-99 is remembered for the likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Peter Schmeichel.

However, one name that often goes unnoticed is Jonathan Greening. Despite not playing a minute in the final, he was an unused substitute and hence received a winners' medal.

7 Djimi Traore - Liverpool

Liverpool's historic comeback in Istanbul against AC Milan in 2005 is a landmark Champions League moment.

The star-studded Milan team, with the likes of Kaka and Maldini, was up against a Liverpool side that included Djimi Traore.

Often ridiculed for his performances in the Premier League, Traore became an unlikely Champions League winner, playing the full 120 minutes of the final as Liverpool went on to victory.

6 Roque Junior - AC Milan

Roque Junior's career at Leeds United might be remembered for the wrong reasons, but it's easy to forget that before his difficult time in England, the Brazilian center-back was a Champions League winner with AC Milan.

He played a crucial role in Milan's 2002-03 success, helping the Italian giants to keep a clean sheet in the final against Juventus.

5 Rhian Brewster - Liverpool

Now at Sheffield United, playing 16 games in the Championship last year, Brewster was once a highly-rated prospects on the books at Liverpool.

Despite not playing a single minute in the Champions League knockout stages, Rhian was part of Liverpool's successful 2018-19 squad and was on the bench for the final against Tottenham.

Brewster, a promising young striker, later moved to Sheffield United in search of more playing time, but his Champions League winner's medal remains a testament to his early career promise.

4 Roque Santa Cruz - Bayern Munich

The Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz was part of the Bayern Munich team that triumphed in the Champions League in 2000-01.

Santa Cruz spent eight years at Bayern, but it was the Champions League victory early in his career that was a standout achievement.

3 Ryan Bertrand - Chelsea

Ryan Bertrand holds the unique distinction of making his Champions League debut in the final itself, when Chelsea faced Bayern Munich in 2012.

The English left-back was a surprise inclusion, but played his part in helping Chelsea to their first-ever Champions League trophy at the left-wing position, helping to handle Arjen Robben.

Despite this significant achievement, Bertrand's Champions League success is often forgotten, perhaps overshadowed by his lengthy career at Southampton.

2 Ben Woodburn - Liverpool

Now with Preston, Woodburn was one tipped for very big things at Anfield, but for a variety of reasons, failed to live up to expectations at Liverpool.

Part of the Liverpool squad that lifted the Champions League in the 2018-19 season, the Welsh international didn't play any part in the final against Tottenham, but was part of the squad that reached the summit of European football.

Since that, his has been slowed by injuries and loan spells. Despite this, his Champions League winner's medal from that successful campaign in Madrid will always be a highlight in his career, even if many football fans have forgotten it.

1 Jese - Real Madrid

Once touted as the next big thing in Spanish football, Jese Rodriguez was part of the Real Madrid team that won "La Decima", the club's tenth Champions League title, in 2014.

However, a serious knee injury hampered his progress, and after unsuccessful spells at Paris Saint-Germain and several other clubs, he fell off the radar.