How many goals does Erling Haaland need to break Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League single-season scoring record?

It’s been a history-making season for Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. Ever since the Norwegian signed up at the Etihad last summer, he has smashed one goalscoring record after another, from being the fastest man to reach 25 and then 30 Champions League goals to beating the all-time record for the most Premier League goals in one season single-season with several games to spare.

At the tender age of 22, more records will fall and one he may have in the back of his mind ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final second leg against Real Madrid is the single-season Champions League goalscoring record, currently held by former Blancos hero Cristiano Ronaldo.

Haaland’s goals-per-game average in the Premier League and Champions League

Is the Premier League or the Champions League Haaland’s favourite competition? It’s tough to say given his incredible scoring record in both, although the numbers would suggest the latter. The former Borussia Dortmund striker has found the net 36 times in 33 matches in the English top flight (1.09 goals per game), while he has scored 35 goals in 28 UCL games (1.25 per game). He has netted more goals than games he has played for each of the three clubs he has featured for in the competition (eight in six for Salzburg, 15 in 13 for Dortmund and 12 in nine for City).

If we look at the all-time scoring charts in the European Cup/Champions League, Haaland is miles ahead of anyone else when it comes to goals per game in the competition, with Gerd Muller (0.97), Ferenc Puskas (0.88) and José Altafini (0.86), players of an entirely different generation, next on the list. Of the current crop, Robert Lewandowski (0.82) leads Lionel Messi (0.79) and Cristiano Ronaldo (0.77).

When could Haaland break Ronaldo’s all-time UCL goals record?

The Portuguese is, of course, the top scorer in the competition’s history, with 140 goals in 183 games for Manchetser United, Madrid and Juventus. At Haaland’s current rate of scoring, he would need to play just 112 matches to hit the tally.

What is Ronaldo’s Champions League single-season scoring record?

Ronado will at least hold onto that one for a little while longer and also looks likely to his keep record of most Champions League goals in a single season for at least another 12 months…or is he?

In the 2013-14 season, the five time Ballon d’Or winner netted 17 times in the competitions as Real Madrid went on to lift the trophy for the 10th time in their history, being Atlético Madrid in the final in Lisbon.

How many Champions League goals has Erling Haaland scored this season?

Haaland has scored 12 Champions League goals for City so far this season, including five in the round of 16 second leg 7-0 thrashing of poor old RB Leipzig at the Etihad. That means he would need to score five times against Madrid in the semi-final second leg and Inter in the final to match Ronaldo’s record, and six to break it.

If it were any other player, you wouldn’t even entertain it. But given that Haaland has scored six hat-tricks (or better) so far this season, perhaps we shoudn’t rule it out completely.