Another week, another record falls to the remarkable goalscoring prowess of Erling Haaland. The Norwegian has achieved all sorts of milestones in the Premier League, and has not been shy in taking his net-busting antics onto the continental stage either.
In December 2025, his Manchester City side took on Real Madrid in a Champions League encounter at the Bernabeu. And it was Haaland’s first half penalty that ultimately sealed a big win for the Cityzens. And, by virtue of beating Thibaut Courtois from the spot, the 25-year-old broke all sorts of records along the way.
Half Century Celebrations
The game against Real Madrid was Haaland’s 50th start in the Champions League. And the penalty that he notched was his 51st goal; more than any other player in their first 50 starts in the competition.
51 – Tonight is Erling Haaland’s 50th start in the UEFA Champions League, in which he has scored 51 goals – the most goals ever by a player in his first 50 starts in the competition. Unerring. pic.twitter.com/iqsPQnDjIG
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2025
That not only beat the pre-existing record but smashed it to smithereens: Ruud van Nistelrooy was the previous holder of the milestone with 42 goals in his opening 50 starts. And the likes of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé were miles behind Haaland, netting 33 and 34 respectively in their first 50 UCL starts.
The Norwegian’s tally is actually 55 Champions League goals, as he has scored four times in four substitute appearances as well. He was aged just 19 when he made his Champions League debut for Red Bull Salzburg in 2019… in typical Haaland fashion, he scored a hat-trick in a 6-2 victory over Gent. Some 49 starts later, he’s already smashed in more than 50 games… how many more will the 25-year-old notch in the Champions League?
On the Bounce
You want more goal records from Haaland in the Champions League? You got it! Back in November 2025, he bagged in City’s 4-1 victory over his former side Borussia Dortmund. It was the fifth UCL game in a row that Haaland had found the net, having also found the target against Napoli, Monaco and Villarreal in 2025/26 and against Real Madrid in City’s final outing of the 2024/25 campaign in defeat to Real Madrid.
And that run of goalscoring form meant that Haaland claimed another unlikely record: scoring in five consecutive Champions League games for three different clubs. He’d already achieved the feat with Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund before, and thus became the first player in Champions League history to achieve this unique feat.
Haaland’s Goalscoring Records
We could dedicate an entire article to the Premier League goalscoring records he has broken too, from the most goals notched in a single season (36), to the fastest to score eight EPL hat-tricks and the quickest to find the net 100 times in the division; taking just 111 games to do so. Haaland remarked:
The 100 club is a huge thing. To do it this quickly is amazing. I’m proud, I’m happy. I’ve said it many times – a striker for City should score a lot of goals. That’s my job, that’s what I try to do. And I’m not bad at it!
Who Has Scored the Most Champions League Goals?
When Haaland found the net against Real Madrid in December, it was his 55th Champions League goal – coming at an extraordinary rate of 1.02 goals-per-game. It takes the Norwegian to within one goal of Van Nistelrooy’s haul; the Dutchman currently sits in eighth position on the all-time Champions League goalscorers’ list.
In seventh place is the former Bayern Munich great Thomas Muller, who netted 57 UCL goals in 163 appearances – he’s another player that Haaland will expect to reel in during the 2025/26 campaign. In sixth position in the all-time Champions League goals list is a player with the scope to add more: Kylian Mbappe. The Real Madrid forward has notched 64 times in 92 appearances, for an impressive goals-per-game ratio of 0.70. And then we’re into the top five of the standings…
- #1 – Cristiano Ronaldo (140)
- #2 – Lionel Messi (129)
- #3 – Robert Lewandowski (105)
- #4 – Karim Benzema (90)
- #5 – Raul (71)
Raul
Real Madrid icon Raul was part of the original Galacticos line-up that included the likes of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham. The Spaniard notched 66 Champions League goals in 130 appearances for Real, before seeing out his UCL days at German side Schalke, for whom he scored five times.
Karim Benzema
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Karim Benzema could yet add to his Champions League, although at the age of 37 – and seemingly nicely settled (and minted) in Saudi Arabia, perhaps he will remain on the tally of 90 he compiled for Lyon and Real Madrid.
Robert Lewandowski
Another player with genuine scope to add to their haul of Champions League goals is Robert Lewandowski. The evergreen 37-year-old is still a regular fixture in the Barcelona starting eleven, netting a hat-trick in their 4-2 win over Celta Vigo in La Liga back in November 2025. It’s doubtful that Lewandowski will climb higher than his current rank of third, but you just never know.
Lionel Messi
In second place we have Lionel Messi, who scored 120 Champions League goals for Barcelona – nobody has notched more for a single club – and nine for PSG.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Debates continue to rage as to whether it’s Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo that deserves the accolade as the best player of the modern era. Ronaldo has scored more Champions League goals than any other player – eleven more than Messi, to be exact, although the Argentine scored his at a rate of 0.79 per game; slightly faster than Ronaldo’s 0.77.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they could one day play in the Champions League again – Messi for Barcelona or Ronaldo for Sporting Lisbon, their spiritual homes, perhaps. But will Haaland, in the fullness of time, overtake them both?
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