Cristiano Ronaldo’s seemingly unattainable Champions League goalscoring record isn’t as safe as it looks.
The Portuguese star netted a staggering 140 goals in 183 games in Europe’s top club competition before moving to the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo became the Champions League’s all-time top scorer thanks to his four titles won at Real MadridAFP – Getty
Next comes World Cup winner Lionel Messi with 129 goals in 160 games for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain with Robert Lewandowski in third place with 96 goals in 122 games.
However the emergence of Erling Haaland could see the Manchester City striker surpass both Ronaldo and Messi.
In just 41 Champions League games, Haaland has netted a staggering 42 goals – all by the age of 24.
His first goals in the competition came in September 2019 when he hit a hat-trick for RB Salzburg in a 6-2 victory over Belgian side Genk.
The Norwegian’s towering frame and killer instinct in front of goal was enough to make fans instantly sit up and take notice.
Haaland’s instantaneous love affair with the competition continued through his 18-month spell at Borussia Dortmund and on to current employers Manchester City whom he helped fire to Champions League glory in 2023.
His goal in Tuesday’s 4-0 win at Slovan Bratislava saw him overtake former City star Sergio Aguero and draw level with Juventus great Alessandro Del Piero for goals scored in the competition.
He is now the 18th highest scorer in the modern Champions League era – and 20th in European Cup history – closing in on stars such as Neymar (43 goals), Didier Drogba (44 goals) and Mohamed Salah (45 goals).
Should City go deep in this season’s Champions League and if Haaland can remain fit, he could even overtake legendary figures such as Andriy Shevchenko and Zlatan Ibrahimovic who amassed 48 goals.
The Norwegian helped fire City to their first Champions League title in 2023Getty
He netted his 42nd Champions League goal in a dominant Man City against Slovan BratislavaGetty
If he continues his incredible trajectory then Ronaldo just may have a few sleepless nights in the years to come.
The Al Nassr star was presented with an award to celebrate his achievement of holding the Champions League’s all-time scoring record at August’s leave-phase draw in Monaco.
His exploits has seen him lift the trophy on five separate occasions, his first coming with Manchester United in 2008.
Haaland has one triumph to his name but would bet against the Norwegian adding further titles in the years to come.
The Man City striker needs 99 goals to draw level with Ronaldo’s benchmark of 141 goals and 100 to eclipse the Portuguese.
Haaland’s goalscoring record sees him average a goal every 77.1 minutes with an average of 1.02 goals per game.
Ronaldo was recently recognised for his goalscoring exploits in the competitionAFP
Therefore, at his current scoring rate he will need 99 games to knock Ronaldo off his perch.
And the new format works favourably for Haaland who will play a further two group games to boost his tally with the option of a further seven matches should City enter into the play-off round and make it through to the final.
If he was to play in the competition for the remainder of his career he could surpass Ronaldo in the 2035/36 campaign.
However, if City continue to reach the later stages and Haaland remains a key figure then he could become top dog by the 2033/34 season.
Just the 100 to go for Haaland…
Ronaldo’s last act in the Champions League came at the age of 37 and since Haaland is expected to reach the feat by the 2035/36 season, he could be the new king of European football by the time he reaches his mid-thirties.
Haaland is well used to chasing down records.
He recently netted his 100th goal for Man City in all competitions – matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s record at Real Madrid for the fewest games needed to reach a century of goals in a major European league.
He has collected numerous Premier League records already.
In his debut Premier League season, Haaland broke the record for the most goals scored by a player in a single season, with 36.
He has also the most goals in all competitions by a Premier League player in one season (52) and became the fastest to 50 Premier League goals (48 games), beating Andy Cole by 17 games.
Haaland has enjoyed a record-breaking start to this domestic campaign too, with ten goals in his first six games.
