Man City has just destroyed RB Leipzig 7-0 at the Etihad, with a total score of 8-1, to win tickets to the quarterfinals of the Champions League this season. Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland (5 goals) are the players who opened fire for The Citizens.
This can be considered one of the best performances of Haaland’s career to date, if not the best. Accordingly, the Norwegian player broke many incredible records.
Haaland is excellent.
Haaland became the fastest player to reach 30 Champions League goals in history, taking only 25 games to reach this number, breaking the record set by Manchester United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy with 34 games.
He is also the youngest player to score 30 goals at the age of 22 years and 236 days, surpassing Kylian Mbappe’s achievement of 22 years and 352 days. Haaland now has 39 goals in all competitions this season, the most for a Man City player in a season, breaking Tommy Johnson’s 94-year record.
In the end, Haaland matched Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano for the most goals scored in a single Champions League game. Even, he could break that record if Pep Guardiola doesn’t pull out after 63 minutes.
The Spaniard himself admitted: “If I let Haaland achieve that (scoring six goals in a game) at the age of 22, he will get bored in the future. He is young and should take it. as a motivation to break Lionel Messi’s record in the future.”
But in the immediate future, Haaland has important goals to strive for this season.
The opportunity for Haaland to break Ronaldo’s record this season.
If Man City reach the final in Istanbul on June 10, Haaland has five more matches to play in this tournament. And in the case of maintaining the current scoring rate, the former Dortmund star has a chance to break the record of 17 goals in a season, currently held by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Haaland is still 7 goals away from the record and has the most 5 games to close the gap. According to AS calculations, if Man City reach the final and Haaland maintains his current scoring rate, he will end the campaign with 18 goals in all.
Ronaldo is known for his superb performances in the Champions League and the Portuguese superstar is the player who holds the personal record for the highest scoring record in three seasons. He also became the top scorer of the Champions League 7 times.
However, the Norwegian player is on his way to becoming the youngest name in the list of the best strikers in the tournament. When setting the record in the 2013/2014 season, Ronaldo was 29 years old, but Haaland was only 22 years old when this year’s season ended.
Top goalscorers in a single season in the Champions League:
Cristiano Ronaldo (2013/14) – 17 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo (2015/16) – 16 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo (2017/18) – 15 goals
Robert Lewandowski (2019/20) – 15 goals
Karim Benzema (2021/22) – 14 goals
Lionel Messi (2011/12) – 14 goals
Xiao Lam | 23:10 March 15, 2023
