Manchester City striker Erling Braut Haaland will head to Switzerland this week aiming to enhance his excellent goalscoring record in the Champions League.
Haaland’s tally of 35 goals puts him in touching distance of the top 10 all-time scorers list in the Champions League ahead of City’s visit to Young Boys on Wednesday.
While he is yet to score in this season’s competition, the upcoming games against the group minnows give Haaland the opportunity to fill his boots.
The Norwegian striker is currently a long way adrift of Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the standings but will fancy his chances of eventually setting a new record.
All-time Champions League top scorers (excluding qualifying)
- 140: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus)
- 129: Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain)
- 92: Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona)
- 90: Karim Benzema (Lyon, Real Madrid)
- 71: Raúl González (Real Madrid, Schalke)
- 56: Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid)
- 53: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
- 50: Thierry Henry (Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona)
- 48: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United)
- 48: Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea)
Will Haaland overtake Ronaldo?
With Ronaldo now winding his career down in the Saudi Pro League, he has passed up the chance to add to his tally of Champions League goals.
Lionel Messi is also out of the equation after heading to Major League Soccer, while Robert Lewandowski is running out of time to make up a 48-goal deficit.
Kylian Mbappe (41) and Haaland (35) are the players most likely to overhaul Ronaldo, and the latter looks a good bet to achieve the feat.
Mbappe currently averages 5.1 goals per season in the Champions League, meaning he would need another 19.5 years to catch the Portuguese striker.
Haaland’s average of seven goals per season means he requires another 15 years to reach 140 goals, which is undoubtedly more feasible.
However, if he maintained the same scoring rate as last season (12 goals), it would take Haaland just short of nine years to reach Ronaldo’s tally.
Given he will spend most of his career playing for Europe’s top clubs, Haaland looks a good bet to eventually surpass Ronaldo as the all-time top goalscorer in the Champions League.
