Erling Haaland hit another Champions League milestone as the Manchester City striker netted his 50th goal in the competition.

Haaland, who is also on course to net 100 Premier League goals in record time, was on the scoresheet as City beat 10-man Napoli 2-0 on Thursday. 

The Norway international achieved the milestone in just 49 games – faster than any other player in the competition's illustrious history, surpassing Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of 62 appearances. 

Haaland has now registered 27 goals in Europe's premier club tournament since arriving at City in 2022, and sits just nine goals off Sergio Aguero (36), the club's record goalscorer in the Champions League.

At 25, Haaland is also the second-youngest player to hit 50 Champions League goals, after Lionel Messi.

He has also broken into the top 10 all-time goalscorers in Champions League and European Cup history, replacing Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano and going level with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. 

As Haaland joins this exclusive list of the competition's leading scorers, we delve into the Opta data surrounding his Champions League exploits to date.

Haaland's Champions League journey

The forward burst onto the scene on the Champions League stage while plying his trade at Salzburg, completing a hat-trick on his competition debut against Genk, before knocking in another five during his maiden campaign, including scoring against the then-reigning champions Liverpool in a 4-3 defeat at Anfield.

The 2020-21 campaign saw the marksman register another 10 goals in the Champions League, this time for Borussia Dortmund across just eight games, scoring in every appearance before meeting his future employers City in the quarter-finals, with Pep Guardiola’s side ending their run.

Haaland's first campaign at City saw him plunder 12 goals in 13 games as City won the Champions League for the first time, completing the treble in the process.

That season remains his best from a goalscoring perspective in Europe's elite club competition, with Haaland also managing eight Champions League strikes in 2024-25, and six in 2023-24.

Haaland's Champions League goals

No stranger to scoring several goals in a single game, Haaland has recorded two Champions League hat-tricks, including a five-goal haul against RB Leipzig in a 7-0 win in 2023, as well as 13 braces.

The former Dortmund forward has flexed his goalscoring versatility, racking up 34 goals with his more prolific left foot, 11 using his right, and five with his head. Of those, 48 were from inside the box, while just two were scored from outside the penalty area.

He has been most prolific against Sevilla and RB Leipzig, scoring six goals against both sides over three and four games, respectively.

As for Haaland's bogey teams, Real Madrid have regularly posed the frontman issues, rendering him goalless in four of his five games against them.

Haaland in great company

The Norwegian has broken Van Nistelrooy's long-standing record. The former Madrid and Manchester United forward reached the same milestone in September 2007 after featuring 62 times in the competition, meaning Haaland has broken the record with 13 games to spare.

Messi needed 66 games to hit 50 goals, while Kylian Mbappe required 79 and Robert Lewandowski took 77.

While Van Nistelrooy had claimed the previous record for the fewest games to score 50 goals, Messi had held the mantle for the best minutes-per-goal rate (103.8).

Meanwhile, Mbappe was leading the way for shot conversion rate (19.2%), slightly ahead of Messi (18.6%) and Lewandowski (18.5%).

Following his record-breaking goal on Thursday, Haaland now also tops the charts for minutes-per-goal rate (78.7), and shot conversion rate (26.8).