Manchester City’s striker Erling Haaland has climbed the Champions League all-time goalscoring ranks, surpassing Neymar and equaling Didier Drogba’s record.
Haaland netted twice in City’s 5-0 victory against Sparta Prague on Wednesday night. His first goal, a spectacular back-heeled volley, left fans in awe, further proving his naysayers who have asked about his fitness levels in recent fixtures wrong.
With this performance, the 24-year-old now has 44 Champions League goals, equaling Didier Drogba’s tally and surpassing notable players such as Neymar and Alessandro Del Piero.
However, Haaland still has a considerable gap to close to reach Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time record of 141 goals in the competition.
Only two players have surpassed the 100-goal mark in Champions League history: Cristiano Ronaldo with 141 and Lionel Messi with 129.
Robert Lewandowski currently sits at 97 goals after finding the net in Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Bayern Munich.
What did Pep Guardiola say about Haaland’s goal?
Speaking after the match, Pep Guardiola was full off nothing but praise for Erling Haaland following his wonder goal in the Man City vs Sparta Prague champions league fixture.
He stated, “It’s unbelievable the talent this guy has. When Erling gets in behind, he is unstoppable. Erling has this incredible capacity. He can touch the ball 15 times but have seven or eight chances. Today he scored two goals and could have scored two more. Erling has this incredible capacity. He can touch the ball 15 times but have seven or eight chances. He made a fantastic goal but scored similar goal against Dortmund a couple of years ago with an incredible pass from Joao Cancelo. I didn’t know how it was scored. There was a player in front of me. Yeah, against Dortmund it was quite similar. For a human being, it’s not normal. I don’t know which one is more difficult. For me, both!”
Read the Latest Sports News and get fresh updates on X and Facebook