Paul Scholes is one of the greatest players in Champions League history.

Across his iconic career with Manchester United, Scholes was regularly revered as one of the toughest players to face on the continent by legends such as Zinedine Zidane and Xavi.

Point to however many goal and assist statistics as you like, but the fact of the matter is that those who shared a pitch with Scholes are the first to describe just how incredible he really was.

The brilliance of Paul Scholes

And when the majestic midfielder hung up his boots for the second and final time in 2013, he did so with two Champions League winners' medals to go with his astonishing collection of silverware.

Scholes might have been suspended for the 1999 triumph, but he played a crucial role in United's treble win overall and he started from the outset nine years later in Moscow.

So, all in all, it's fair to say that Scholes enjoyed a glorious career on the continent and he produced countless moments for fans of the Champions League to remember him by.

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Greatest ever Champions League assists

And one such flash of genius has been highlighted this week with the team at BT Sport stitching together an awesome montage of the Champions League's 50 greatest assists this century.

With everyone from Ronaldinho to Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta to Dennis Bergkamp making the cut, it really does make for a stunning 24 minutes of continental playmaking.

And as you can probably gather by this point, Scholes just happened to have produced one of the finest assists of the bunch, finishing as high as eighth place with a stunning moment vs AC Milan.

Scholes' genius assist vs AC Milan

In a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford famed for Kaka's masterclass, Scholes teed up Wayne Rooney's first goal of the night with an inspired lobbed pass that deceived Milan's star-studded defence.

It was the sort of nonchalant, no-questions-asked piece of skill that makes Scholes such a revered force in the footballing world and it's well worth a rewatch if you haven't seen it in a few years:

Woof. That's how you destroy a defence featuring Alessandro Nesta with one piece of skill.

Incredible vision from Scholes

Sure, it might have taken a slight deflection along the way and Rooney's finish wasn't exactly aesthetically pleasing, but there's no getting away from the sheer brilliance of Scholes' vision.

Besides, the more you watch back the footage, the more it makes you wonder how Scholes was able to accurately track Rooney's run and weight his pass over the top with so perfectly. 

But whatever synapses were firing in one of the modern game's finest footballing brains, there's no denying that it led to one of the greatest assists that the Champions League has ever seen.