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Erling Haaland broke another record on Thursday night when the Manchester City striker scored his 50th UEFA Champions League goal in only his 49th appearance in the competition.
Goal No 50 came 56 minutes into City’s 2-0 win over Napoli, when Haaland brilliantly looped a header over goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic after a fine assist from Phil Foden.
Jeremy Doku later wrapped up the points for City, who had been playing against 10 men since Giovanni Di Lorenzo was shown a straight red card in the first half.
Erling Haaland becomes quickest player to 50 Champions League goals
The headlines belonged to Haaland, who now holds the record for reaching 50 Champions League goals in the fewest number of matches.
The previous fastest was Ruud van Nistelrooy, who needed 62 games. Lionel Messi reached the mark in 66 matches, Robert Lewandowski in 77, and Kylian Mbappe in 79.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the competition’s all-time leading scorer, took 91 appearances to reach his first 50.
Top 10 quickest players to 50 Champions League goals
- Erling Haaland – 49 games
- Ruud van Nistelrooy – 62 games
- Lionel Messi – 66 games
- Robert Lewandowski – 77 games
- Kylian Mbappe – 79 games
- Karim Benzema – 88 games
- Cristiano Ronaldo – 91 games
- Filippo Inzaghi – 96 games
- Thierry Henry – 112 games
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 115 games
Erling Haaland, seen scoring against Real Madrid in 2023, has now reached 50 Champions League goals in just 49 games
Who Haaland’s first 50 Champions League goals came against
Haaland has terrorised defenders from all over Europe, striking against 18 different opponents on his way to 50 Champions League goals. His most frequent victims have been Sevilla and RB Leipzig, who have each conceded six times to the Norwegian.
Napoli, Club Brugge, Genk and Young Boys have all been beaten four times apiece, while Paris Saint-Germain, Besiktas and Copenhagen have each seen him score three goals against them.
Haaland — who was recently linked with renewed interest from Barcelona — has found the net twice against heavyweights such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, as well as bagging braces against Sparta Praha and Feyenoord.
He has also hit single strikes against Dortmund, Lazio, Liverpool, Slovan Bratislava and Zenit, underlining his ability to score in almost any setting.
Haaland’s remarkable record in the Champions League is similar to his incredible scoring stats for Norway in international football. After hitting five goals against Moldova earlier this month, Haaland now has 48 goals in 45 caps for his country.
Haaland’s Champions League stats (Opta)
- For Red Bull Salzburg: 8 goals in 6 games (46.8 mins per goal, 47.1% shot conversion, 2 penalties)
- For Borussia Dortmund: 15 goals in 13 games (72.5 mins per goal, 35.7% shot conversion, 1 penalty)
- For Manchester City: 27 goals in 30 games (91.6 mins per goal, 21.3% shot conversion, 5 penalties)
- Overall: 50 goals in 49 games (78.7 mins per goal, 26.9% shot conversion, 8 penalties)
Phil Foden hails “unbelievable” Haaland
Foden paid tribute to his teammate after Thursday’s game. “He seems to break every record going,” Foden declared. “It’s unheard of what he’s doing. What an unbelievable player.”
Pep Guardiola echoed the sentiment, saying: “What can I say? The numbers speak for themselves.
“We are lucky to have him. Just to congratulate him, because he’s alongside goalscorers like Van Nistelrooy, Lewandowski, but especially the two monsters Cristiano and Messi for 20 years. For Erling to be there is unbelievable.”
Pep Guardiola backs Haaland to break Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League record
While Haaland is now the fastest man to 50 goals, he still has work to do if he wants to chase down the all-time record.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains top of the list with 140 goals in 183 Champions League matches, ahead of Lionel Messi on 129 goals.
But Guardiola believes Haaland could one day catch Ronaldo. “In that rhythm, yeah,” Guardiola replied when asked if Haaland could one day overtake the Portuguese legend.
“He’s not injured, he could play for 10 or 12 more years, and he maintains this progression, absolutely.”
At just 25, Haaland has time firmly on his side. His first three full seasons for City saw him score 26 Champions League goals. That works out at 8.66 per year on average. Were he to continue at that rate, he would break Ronaldo’s record in just over a decade from now.
The race is on.
