Erling Haaland added another record to his growing collection with the opening goal in Manchester City’s 2-0 Champions League win over Napoli at the Etihad Stadium.
The Norwegian is the fastest to score 50 goals in the competition and here, the PA news agency takes a look at his record.
Haaland’s half-century
Haaland’s prolific record with City and his previous clubs Borussia Dortmund and RB Salzburg has seen him bring up his half-century at better than a goal a game, needing just 49 appearances to reach the mark.
He scored eight goals in six games for Salzburg in 2019, including a hat-trick on his Champions League debut against Genk and a brace against Napoli, and 15 in 13 for Dortmund – scoring twice in a game on six of those occasions.
His City record of 27 in 30 includes his most memorable Champions League performance, five goals in a 7-0 win over Salzburg’s Red Bull stablemates RB Leipzig in March 2023.
He breaks the record previously held by Ruud van Nistelrooy, who reached 50 goals in 62 Champions League appearances for PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Lionel Messi took 66 and remains the youngest player to reach 50, aged 24 years and 284 days, with 25-year-old Haaland displacing Kylian Mbappe in second.
Robert Lewandowski and Mbappe complete the top five in terms of fewest appearances.
Next in his sights?
While Haaland is the 10th player with a half-century, only five so far have gone on to 60 goals in the competition proper – with none quicker than Messi’s 80 games.
The Argentinian also holds the records for 70, 90 and 100 goals, in 90, 109 and 123 games respectively. He was also the youngest to reach 80, though Lewandowski got to that mark two games quicker in a round 100.
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record of 141 career goals in the Champions League, including the qualifying rounds, with Messi and Lewandowski the only other players over 100.
Haaland has twice won the Champions League Golden Boot, with 10 goals for Dortmund in 2020-21 and 12 with City in 2022-23.
