ERLING HAALAND has scored more goals in his first 50 Champions League starts than any player in history.
The Manchester City superstar reached the landmark appearance as he lined up against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Haaland marked the occasion by scoring the winner from the penalty spot at the Bernabeu as City prevailed 2-1.
The strike was Haaland’s 51st Champions League goal in just 50 starts.
Per Opta, this is the highest sum in a half-century of starts in the history of the competition.
In second place is former Manchester United star Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 42 goals in his first 50 Champions League starts.
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Filippo Inzaghi, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe are all level on 34 each, while Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski bagged 33 apiece.
Karim Benzema and Edinson Cavani managed 31 each, with Neymar scoring 30.
Haaland’s 51st Champions League strike came from the penalty spot, after he’d been bundled over by Antonio Rudiger.
Despite having been left crumpled in a heap, the Norwegian dusted himself down to calmly score from the spot.
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After netting what turned out to be the winner, Haaland told TNT Sports: “It’s difficult to come here, it’s a tough place. Game was a bit chaotic, we couldn’t really control it. We get the win in the end, super happy.
“This is a place you want to play, these are games you want to play. With this new format in Champions League you get to play more games which is nice. I like it.
“It could have looked completely different today if we didn’t win because of the Leverkusen defeat, this win is really important.
“Two more games left. We need to finish strong and hopefully we can be in the first eight because then we’re through.”
In addition to 50 Champions League starts, Haaland has come off the bench four times in the competition during his career – scoring four goals in these cameos to take his overall tally to 55.
The forward scored eight goals in just six Champions League outings for Salzburg, before netting 15 for Borussia Dortmund.
In March 2023, Haaland memorably scored five times in City’s 7-0 last 16 second leg triumph over RB Leipzig.
While he helped City beat Inter Milan in that year’s final, albeit without scoring on that occasion.
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