A 7-0 victory over RB Leipzig on Tuesday evening, five more goals to his name… Erling Haaland has climbed a few more steps towards the pantheon of top scorers in history.
This landmark round of 16 return, in which the Norwegian, replaced in the 63rd minute, only played a big hour, was the scene of a succession of personal bests scored by Haaland.
10. Obviously, Haaland, with 10 goals, takes command of the scorers’ rankings for the 2022-2023 edition, ahead of Mohamed Salah (8) and Kylian Mbappé (7).
30. At 22 years and 236 days, the City giant passed (2-0) the milestone of 30 goals in the Champions League for his 25th match… No one has done better than him at his age and in as little appearances.
By the way, the blond Mancunian dispossessed Kylian Mbappé of the record for the youngest player to reach the threshold of 30 achievements in C1.
33. With 33 goals in the competition, Haaland already exceeds the tally of players like Arjen Robben (31), Wayne Rooney (30), Samuel Eto’o (30) or Kaka (30).
“It’s a great night, he added (…) Five goals, winning 7-0, at home, I’m so happy. It’s a bit fuzzy in my head so I can’t remember all the goals. My super-talent is to score goals. Can I be honest? On most I didn’t even think, I just did, I was just trying to put the ball in the back of the net. It goes a lot through alertness and having the right gesture. A small part is also related to quality, but for many it is in the head.”
35. After the break, Haaland scored twice more, completing a rare quintuple at this level. And the fastest in history, in just 35 minutes between the first and the 5th goal…
Haaland equals Luiz Adriano and Lionel Messi, the only two scorers to have struck five times in a C1 match.
In 2012, Lionel Messi signed a quintuplet with Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen (7-1, in 84 minutes. In 2014, the Brazilian from Shakhtar Donetsk achieved this mark against Bate Borisov (7-0), in 54 minutes.
39. The “natural born goalscorer” is also 39 goals in 36 matches with City, in all competitions. He is already the most prolific scorer in a season in the club’s history, breaking a record dating back to 1928-1929 by a certain Tommy Johnson.