Erling Haaland has shown in his career to be an inhuman goalscorer, but his latest feat on Wednesday against Monaco in the Champions League put him in a different light altogether.
Not only did Haaland surpass Thierry Henry for sole possession of ninth place on the all-time Champions League scoring charts, he also outscored nine clubs in total after making his 50th appearance in the European competition.
The Norwegian’s 52 goals in his first 50 Champions League games represent more goals than each Dinamo Zagreb, Anderlecht, Lille, Club Brugge, Beşiktaş, Celtic, Galatasaray, CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos managed in their first 50 Champions League games, per Opta.
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A Different Stratosphere for Haaland
Haaland has already won a European Golden Shoe and two Premier League Golden Boots as a Man City player, but he is also the second-best scorer among active Champions League players.
Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé is eight goals ahead of Haaland following the conclusion of this week’s Champions League action. While both likely have eyes primarily helping their teams advance to the knockout stage, there’s a goal race building among the two. As both move up the charts passing legends of the game, they could find themselves in a mini-competition.
Mohamed Salah is the third-highest active scorer on 48, but failing to score against Galatasaray put a four-goal gap between him and Haaland.
Given Haaland and Mbappé are 25 and 26 respectively, this battle could dominate the back half of the decade.
Man City Fall Short Despite Haaland Performance
Haaland was awarded Champions League Player of the Match honours after netting his brace, though Manchester City left France with just a point after late drama resulted in Eric Dier scoring from the penalty spot.
The result puts Man City right on the edge of falling out of the top eight, ahead of Tottenham on four points by just goal difference.
The Cityzens, in an overall down year for what people have come to expect with Pep Guardiola’s side, narrowly advanced to the knockout stage playoffs last season. There, they were eliminated by Real Madrid resulting in the first season Guardiola failed to qualify for the round of 16.
Man City next face Villarreal on Oct. 21 on the road before hosting Borussia Dortmund, Haaland’s former club, on Nov. 5 in the competition.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Nine Clubs Erling Haaland Outscored in First 50 Champions League Appearances.
