Erling Haaland the 23-year-old striker who plays soccer for the English club, Manchester City FC has become an absolute beast of a player for them. Last season, he broke the English Premier League’s goal-scoring record in a single season held by Alan Shearer, scoring 36 goals.
Not only that, Haaland does not seem to stop, this season he is up and running in the EPL as well as the highly decorated UEFA Champions League. Also, on November 28th he broke another record in the UCL, becoming the fastest and youngest player to score 40 goals in 35 games in the Champions League, at 23.
Erling Haaland is the fastest and youngest player to score 40 goals in the Champions League 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Y0INA51Y9P
— GOAL (@goal) November 29, 2023
Manchester City fans could not hold back their excitement and called out the UCL’s all-time great Cristiano Ronaldo and his fans on X(formerly Twitter). One fan wrote on X, “We are coming for you Ronaldo”, regarding their young forward catching up to Ronaldo’s record in the UCL.
We are coming for you Ronaldo pic.twitter.com/RYSnjkXRSw
— TREY (@Deji_mide) November 29, 2023
It remains to be seen how Haaland performs throughout his career, as it would take a huge push for him to break Ronaldo’s UCL record for most goals scored by a player. City fans believe Haaland has the skill and willingness to do the unthinkable.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League goals at 23
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest soccer players of all time, his will and determination to be the best is what makes him one of the best in the sport. Although, his start was somewhat of a slow one in the UEFA Champions League.
At the age of 23, he had just 15 goals in the UCL (according to TransferMarkt) as compared to that of Haaland and Mbappe now, it was a very poor start to the competition. Also, he was not much of a goal scorer back then as he was known for his play-making game more than scoring goals.
Ronaldo doesn’t have 40 UCL goals at age 23 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️ https://t.co/4Qyueh9Yki
— ♡ 𝕲𝖇𝖔𝖘𝖈𝖔 ✞ (@AdigunGbolahan1) November 30, 2023
After leaving Manchester United FC for the mighty Real Madrid C.F., that is when Ronaldo turned himself into a traditional center forward from a winger. Having just 15 goals at the age of 23 and ending with a whopping 140 goals in the UCL sums up Ronaldo’s masterful career.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s last ever UCL goal for Real Madrid.
It was even the best Goal in football history.😮💨pic.twitter.com/bgUpcsVucb
— OWN GOAL. (@OWNG0AL) November 28, 2023
He is regarded as the best when it comes to scoring goals, a Picasso of goal scoring as one may term it. Also, he won countless trophies throughout his season, and many players will find it difficult to match his records and win those trophies.
It remains to be seen who will dethrone Ronaldo from his illustrious UCL record of having the most goals scored, Erling Haaland of Manchester City FC and Kylian Mbappe of PSG look to emulate the legend’s record. It will not be an easy job, as they will have to go all out to break it.