Erling Haaland quenched his goal-scoring thirst and, with a brace against Young Boys in the third match of the 2023/24 Champions League group stage, shattered Kylian Mbappe’s record in Europe’s most prestigious competition.
Mbappe extended his lead as the top scorer for PSG in the Champions League with a goal against Milan. The French forward had 36 goals in the competition. During his time with Monaco, Mbappe netted 42 goals in 63 Champions League matches.
In the simultaneous match, Haaland the rival of Mbappe, scored a brace, surpassing the French striker and becoming the youngest player to achieve 37 goals in the elite continental competition. Before breaking Young Boys’ defense, Haaland had gone five consecutive Champions League matches without scoring, including two semifinal and one final match from the previous season and two group stage matches in the current season.
The most recent time Haaland found the net in Europe’s premier competition was during the 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final second leg last season when Manchester City secured a historic treble. Fortunately, against Young Boys, Haaland rediscovered his goal-scoring touch, ending his dry spell and potentially reigniting the fearsome “goal-scoring machine” for the 2022/23 season.
Furthermore, his double in Switzerland made Haaland a part of Champions League history. At the age of 23 years and 96 days, Haaland took away Mbappe’s honor, as Mbappe had reached 37 goals at 23 years and 295 days.
This is just the latest record that Haaland has shattered in the Champions League. Last season, the Norwegian forward became the youngest player to reach 30 goals in Europe’s top competition, surpassing Mbappe’s previous record.
Haaland only needed 25 matches to score 30 goals in the Champions League, achieving this milestone with a “small hand” (scoring five goals) against Leipzig in Manchester City’s 7-0 victory in March 2023.
