The most Champions League goals scored in one season by one player
Erling Haaland has made a mockery of the Champions League since he burst onto the scene - Micah Richards-esque - with RB Salzburg in 2019.
The Norwegian menace has gone on to score 35 times in UEFA's premier club competition despite only making 27 appearances. While Cristiano Ronaldo's all-time leading tally of 140 is still some distance away, Haaland undoubtedly has it in his sights.
At his current rate, Haaland will match Ronaldo's record in 108 games. It took the Portuguese superstar over 180.
Many regarded the 22-year-old as the final piece in Pep Guardiola's Champions League puzzle at Manchester City. The two-time winner of the competition as the manager of Barcelona is somehow yet to get his hands on the lucrative bit of silverware during his all-conquering stint in Manchester, but his excellent City side, inspired by Haaland's ruthless efficiency, have another great chance of going all the way for the very first time in 2023.
As for Haaland, while there are just a maximum of three Champions League games left this season, he's surely eyeing up the single campaign goals record.
Who has scored the most Champions League goals in a single campaign?
Rank | Player | Season | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2013/14 | 17 |
2. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2015/16 | 16 |
3= | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2017/18 | 15 |
3= | Robert Lewandowski | 2019/20 | 15 |
3= | Karim Benzema | 2021/22 | 15 |
6. | Lionel Messi | 2011/12 | 14 |
7. | Robert Lewandowski | 2021/22 | 13 |
8= | Lionel Messi | 2010/11 | 12 |
8= | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2012/13 | 12 |
8= | Ruud van Nistelrooy | 2002/03 | 12 |
8= | Mario Gomez | 2011/12 | 12 |
8= | Lionel Messi | 2018/19 | 12 |
8= | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2016/17 | 12 |
8= | Erling Haaland* | 2022/23 | 12 |
Considering that he's scored the most goals in the competition's history, it's no surprise that Ronaldo features heavily in terms of single campaign records.
Ronaldo so often inspired Real Madrid during crunch time as Los Blancos won four Champions League titles while the Portuguese all-time great was at the club. Real's first victory since 2002 - La Decima - came off the back of a scintillating individual campaign from Ronaldo, during which he scored 17 goals.
His tally came in 11 games and just two of his strikes were penalties, including his last in the final against Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo followed that majestic season up by scoring the second-most goals in a single UCL campaign two seasons later as Real once again lifted the trophy by beating Atletico in the final. Ronaldo scored the winning spot kick in the shootout after scoring 16 times in the competition that year.
Five of the 14 most productive single seasons in UCL history have been achieved by Ronaldo, with Lionel Messi featuring three times. Messi scored 14 goals during the 2011/12 campaign which ended in a semi-final defeat for Barcelona at the hands of Chelsea. The Argentine bagged 12 goals in Barça's successful 2010/11 campaign, and in 2018/19 which concluded in a Catalonian collapse at Anfield.
Robert Lewandowski (15 goals in 2019/20) and Karim Benzema (15 goals in 2021/22) are two relatively new entries, while Mario Gomez's impressive 2011/12 campaign in which he scored 12 times has perhaps gone under the radar after Bayern were beaten in the final.
Could Erling Haaland break the single season Champions League goal record this season?
Haaland has scored 12 goals throughout City's 2022/23 Champions League campaign so far which is enough to rank him joint-eighth on the UCL all-time single season goal record.
The Norwegian machine will be desperate to add to his tally when the Citizens face Real Madrid over two legs with a place in the final at stake. City put four past Real in the first leg last season, but they ultimately exited the competition after Los Blancos awoke at the last.
Haaland certainly has a chance of moving up the single season goals rank against Real, but it's a tough ask, even for him, to match Ronaldo's tally of 17. He has to score five goals in a maximum of three games in order to do so.
You certainly can't write him off, but Haaland would have to do something quite remarkable to close out City's Champions League campaign. If he was to get close to Ronaldo's record, you'd assume that City would finally lift the elusive European crown.
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