Another round of Champions League fixtures and another milestone moment Erling Haaland, the Borussia Dortmund star reaching 20 Champions League goals with a double against Sevilla to book his side’s place in the last eight.
Haaland has been simply sensational since making his debut in club football’s biggest competition last season, his two goals against Sevilla making him the first player in Champions League history to score four consecutive braces.
The Norway international is the leading scorer in this season’s tournament and no record appears safe from the 20-year-old sensation, who has so far obliterated the competition when it comes to goals amongst Europe’s elite.
So for those of you who like to follow the odds and are excited about the best GRAND NATIONAL 2021 – BETTING OFFERS, here are the five fastest players to 20 Champions League goals:
Filippo Inzaghi – 28 games
A great goalscorer of European football, Filippo Inzaghi ranks joint-fifth for goals scored in UEFA club competition, with only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Raul having ever scored more than the predatory Italian.
The former Juventus and AC Milan player was a regular goalscorer on Europe’s biggest stage, scoring 46 Champions League goals including 20 in his first 28 appearances in the competition.
His first 17 came in the colours of Juventus before swapping Turin for Milan, where he formed part of a side that twice won the trophy under Carlo Ancelotti, the forward proving the match-winner with two goals in the 2007 final victory over Liverpool in Athens.
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Ruud van Nistelrooy – 27 games
Before the dominant era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the name of Ruud van Nistelrooy was often seen leading the way in the list of the Champions League’s top scorers.
Despite never lifting the trophy during spells at PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid, Van Nistelrooy finished as the competition’s leading scorer on three occasions during a career that saw him plunder 56 Champions League goals in just 73 appearances.
The best period of his career undoubtedly came in the Premier League, with the Netherlands international netting a phenomenal 150 goals in just 219 appearances for the Red Devils.
A ruthless finisher, Van Nistelrooy took just 27 appearances to reach the 20-goal landmark. Modern football may have now moved away from the genuine penalty box poacher, though the Dutchman was one of the very finest to have perfected the trade.
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Alessandro Del Piero – 26 games
Juventus’ all-time record goalscorer emerged as a precociously-talented teenager during the nineties, before playing a key role as the Italian giants reached three successive Champions League finals between 1996 and 1998, winning the first with victory over Ajax on penalties in Rome.
Del Piero scored six times during that memorable run to the ultimate success – remarkably the last time Juventus lifted the trophy – and starred during a successful period in continental competition for the Bianconeri, reaching 20 Champions League goals in just 26 appearances.
Both a great goalscorer and a scorer of great goals, the Italian is one of the most iconic forwards in Champions League history.
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Harry Kane – 24 games
Eclipsing Del Piero’s long-standing record with a brace against Olympiakos in November 2019, Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in just his 24th appearance in club football’s biggest competition.
The north London side have become Champions League regulars in recent seasons and Kane has been at the forefront of their success, enjoying a prolific record including scoring five times as Spurs reached the 2019 final.
Kane will be hoping Spurs can secure qualification to next season’s Champions League after missing out on qualification in 2020/21. The England captain is just six goals short of equalling Wayne Rooney’s record of 30 goals as the highest scoring English player in the tournament’s history.
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Erling Haaland – 14 games
Make no mistake, Erling Haaland could obliterate every goalscoring record in the game if he continues his current rate of trajectory since bursting onto the scene at Salzburg in the 2019/20 season.
Haaland announced himself to the world with a hat-trick on his Champions League debut and has not stopped scoring since. The Leeds-born Norwegian international is the first teenager in history to score in five consecutive fixtures and finished his maiden campaign on this stage with 10 goals – two of which came following a mid-season move to Borussia Dortmund.
The 20-year-old has continued to score at an astonishing rate since moving to the Bundesliga and has netted 47 goals in just 47 appearances across all competitions for Dortmund, including a staggering 10 in just six fixtures in this season’s Champions League.
Haaland’s freakishly phenomenal return has seen him reach 20 goals in the tournament in just 14 appearances, a return that is difficult to comprehend and unlikely to ever be bettered.
Following an era in which Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have set unprecedented goalscoring history, there is a new star who looks ready-made to dominate the next decade of Champions League football.
The sky really is the limit for one Erling Braut Haaland.
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