Paul Scholes is one of the greatest players that the Champions League has ever seen.A two-time winner with Manchester United, the midfield wizard dazzled Europe with the very passing genius and eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head vision that made him so revered by his biggest rivals.We've all seen the quotes from Zinedine Zidane, Xavi and Lionel Messi that sum up just how superb Scholes really was and fans were always treated to a demonstration of that on the European stage.
Scholes' Champions League resumé
Across 124 appearances in the continent's premier competition, Scholes found the net 26 times, including that screamer against Barcelona, while also amassing 13 assists.
However, for all the goals contributions that Scholes amassed in the Champions League, there is arguably no skill better than his penchant for long passes that sums up his legendary status.
Sure, you can't beat watching Scholes lash a volley home from the edge of the box, but there's a certain footballing poetry that comes with witnessing his quarterback-like passes from deep.
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Scholes' penchant for long passes
You always knew that when Scholes got the ball out of his feet around the centre-circle that he was only a second away from finding a teammate regardless of whether they were even in shot or not.
With one clean sweep of that iconic right peg, you would watch as the ball swept across your TV screen and travel over half the opposing team before finding a player you had no idea was free.
It really is the type of footballing phenomena that makes us love the beautiful game so much and it's fantastic, therefore, that the Champions League have brought that sensation to our front door.
Stunning montage of Scholes' passing
That's because the competition's official account decided to grace everybody's Twitter feed with a compilation of Scholes' long passes in Europe that is so glorious that it's gone viral.
With more than 5,600 retweets and 37,000 'likes' at the time of writing, you really are missing out if you haven't watched Scholes spreading his magic yet, so be sure to check it out down below:
Be right back, we're just off to watch the video another 20 times in a row.
Genius beyond the stats
It really is the perfect demonstration of how Scholes' genius will never be truly appreciated in the statistics and data alone because it's the eye test that underlines just how unstoppable he was.
Whether it's pinging the ball 50 yards over the heads of Schalke or nonchalantly punting a pass past Barcelona in the Champions League final, Scholes really was a creative master in midfield.
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So, sure, the debate with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard is well worth having, but just be sure to send this montage to anybody who is writing off Scholes based on numbers alone.
