{"id":1194535,"date":"2021-03-11T10:45:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T10:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1194535"},"modified":"2021-03-11T10:52:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T10:52:27","slug":"erling-haaland-champions-league-goalscoring-record-compared-modern-legends","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/erling-haaland-champions-league-goalscoring-record-compared-modern-legends\/","title":{"rendered":"How Erling Haaland’s UCL goalscoring record compares to modern legends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erling Haaland is a goalscoring phenomenon and has taken the Champions League by storm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since debuting in the competition at the start of last season, the 20-year-old Norwegian has scored more goals than anybody. Twenty times he’s found the back of the net for Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund and no one, not Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, nor even the white-hot Robert Lewandowski has scored more in that time.<\/p>\n

But that comparison isn’t fair… to Haaland. See, while all three of those goalscoring greats are in their 30s and have over 400 Champions League appearances between them, Haaland has 14.<\/p>\n

So we’ve looked back at these three legendary goalscorers, as well as other greats from the modern era, and compared how they did over their first 14 Champions League appearances when compared to Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n

Erling Haaland<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After 14 Champions League appearances<\/strong><\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 20
\nGoals:<\/strong> 20
\nShots:<\/strong> 45
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 29
\nAssists:<\/strong> 2<\/p>\n

Haaland is a freak of nature. Not only has the Norwegian been relentlessly prolific (in the 14 games he’s played in so far, he’s scored in 12) but he’s also terrifyingly accurate. His 20 goals have come from just 45 shots, meaning his shot conversion is an otherworldly 44%! He’s unreal, but how does he stack up?<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 20
\nGoals:<\/strong> 4
\nShots:<\/strong> 38
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 17
\nAssists:<\/strong> 1<\/p>\n

Arguably the greatest player of all time, Messi spent his first few seasons as an injury prone mesmeric winger. As a result he wasn’t the goalscoring phenom he is now and by the time of his 14th appearance he had scored just four goals with an 11% shot conversion rate.<\/p>\n

1-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 20
\nGoals:<\/strong> 0
\nShots:<\/strong> 35
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 13
\nAssists:<\/strong> 1<\/p>\n

Mr. Champions League has 134 goals in Europe’s top competition but he took his time to get going and, by the time of Ronaldo’s 14th appearance, he hadn’t scored at all. In fact, Ronaldo didn’t score until his 27th Champions League appearance, and although he pretty much hasn’t stopped since then, he’s a way off Haaland’s quick start.<\/p>\n

2-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert Lewandowski<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 24
\nGoals:<\/strong> 6
\nShots:<\/strong> 41
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 13
\nAssists:<\/strong> 4<\/p>\n

Since Haaland debuted in the Champions League last season only Robert Lewandowski has kept pace with his scoring. The Polish striker currently has 19 goals, and will hope to add to that when Bayern Munich next play. However, when Lewandowski was first emerging with Borussia Dortmund, he was nowhere near that prolific, scoring just six times.<\/p>\n

3-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karim Benzema<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 20
\nGoals:<\/strong> 10
\nShots:<\/strong> 53
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 27
\nAssists:<\/strong> 1<\/p>\n

It’s easy to forget just how good Karim Benzema is because he played years in a supporting role at Real Madrid, but he’s always scored goals well as the star of a team. A great instance of this was when he emerged at Lyon when, despite being just 20 years old, he bagged 10 goals in his first 14 European games for Les Gones and marked himself out as one of the very best young strikers around.<\/p>\n

4-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 28
\nGoals:<\/strong> 7
\nShots:<\/strong> 54
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 22
\nAssists:<\/strong> 6<\/p>\n

Owing to his emergence with lesser clubs, Luis Su\u00e1rez didn’t hit 14 Champions League games until he was 28 years old and well on his way to winning the 2014\/15 edition of the competition. Despite his advanced age and experience, Su\u00e1rez only scored seven goals in those first 14 games, but he balanced that out with six assists to show his all-around quality.<\/p>\n

5-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neymar<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 22
\nGoals:<\/strong> 6
\nShots:<\/strong> 47
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 16
\nAssists:<\/strong> 3<\/p>\n

The sensational Neymar hit the Champions League in style with Barcelona and, even though he was a dynamic genius playing alongside Messi and Su\u00e1rez, he couldn’t match Haaland’s absurd productivity. Obviously he’s not a pure goalscorer, but his goal-getting is good enough to be worth a comparison.<\/p>\n

6-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 18
\nGoals:<\/strong> 9
\nShots:<\/strong> 33
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 17
\nAssists:<\/strong> 3<\/p>\n

Erling Haaland is smashing goalscoring records left, right and centre and pretty much all those records belong to Kylian Mbapp\u00e9. The French teenager emerged with Monaco in 2017 and took the knockout rounds of the Champions League by storm. He scored at a ridiculous rate, ending his first 14 games (spread between Monaco and PSG) with nice goals and 3 assists and an impressive 27% shot conversion rate. That’s not quite Haaland levels but you have to remember that Mbapp\u00e9 did all this at 18 years of age, two years younger than Haaland!<\/p>\n

7-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Edinson Cavani<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 27
\nGoals:<\/strong> 9
\nShots:<\/strong> 34
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 16
\nAssists:<\/strong> 2<\/p>\n

Like his fellow Uruguayan Su\u00e1rez, Edinson Cavani was a late bloomer in the Champions League and as such didn’t play his 14th game until he was 27. As a result, he rattled off an impressive nine goals with a 26% shot conversion for Napoli and PSG.<\/p>\n

8-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Didier Drogba<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 27
\nGoals:<\/strong> 10
\nShots:<\/strong> 47
\nShots on target:<\/strong> 23
\nAssists:<\/strong> 1<\/p>\n

The ultimate late bloomer, Didier Drogba didn’t show up in the Champions League until his mid-20s and yet the Ivorian man mountain still picked up an impressive 10 goals in that time. Drogba’s shot conversion of 21% was good, but what really proved his quality was the even spread of his goals across his left foot, right foot and head.<\/p>\n

No one else on this list has scored more than onw header, while Drogba has three, and in splitting his remaining goals between his two feet with four on his left and three on the right, Drogba is the only striker to have more than one goal in every category. A truly brilliant no. 9 and with his combination of size, power and outrageous technique he was one of the few forerunners for Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n

9-0 Haaland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Erling Haaland has now scored more #UCL<\/a> goals (20) than any other Norwegian player in the competitions history, surpassing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's record of 19 goals.<\/p>\n

20 years old and continuing to set records. ? pic.twitter.com\/yjIiutCbab<\/a><\/p>\n

— Squawka (@Squawka) March 10, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n