Manchester City's Erling Haaland could make Champions League history without kicking a ball in Tuesday's clash with Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad Stadium.
The Norway international and his teammates have some wrongs to right in the league phase clash, having been edged out 2-1 by Newcastle United in the weekend's Premier League contest.
The defeat saw Haaland draw a blank in front of goal for just the third time in any competition this season, having also failed to find the back of the net in previous losses to Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
However, the 25-year-old has breached every backline he has faced in Europe so far this term, producing five goals in four games against Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Villarreal and Napoli.
Despite the presence of Omar Marmoush, Haaland is expected to retain his place up front for the visit of Leverkusen, and he will write a new chapter of Champions League history just by appearing in the first XI.
Erling Haaland can break Champions League record without kicking ball
Erling Haaland scores and celebrates for Manchester City on November 2, 2025
As long as Haaland makes the starting lineup on Tuesday evening, the striker will break the record for the most goals in a player's first 50 starts in the Champions League.
Haaland has already scored an unrivalled 50 goals in his first 49 starts in the competition, so he does not even need to touch the ball or play more than one minute to set the record - he merely needs to be selected from the first whistle.
The Scandinavian has also found the back of the net four times in three substitute appearances in the Champions League, giving him an astounding total of 54 goals from 52 competition matches for City, Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund.
Haaland already sits ninth in the list of the Champions League's all-time top scorers, and he needs just two more goals to draw level with Ruud van Nistelrooy's 56, and three more to match Thomas Muller's 57 for Bayern Munich.
Averaging 1.03 goals per game in the UCL, Haaland would need to make 145 appearances in the competition to equal Cristiano Ronaldo's all-time record of 140 goals at his current scoring rate, and 133 to match Lionel Messi's 129 strikes.
However, the 25-year-old is only the third-highest active scorer in the competition behind Kylian Mbappe (60 goals in 91 games) and Robert Lewandowski (105 goals in 136 appearances).
Pep Guardiola to join exclusive club in Man City vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola pictured on October 29, 2025
In addition to Haaland's pursuit of history, Pep Guardiola will also join an exclusive managerial club regardless of the result of Tuesday's game between City and Leverkusen.
Much was made of the Catalan's 1,000th competitive match as a manager earlier this month, but he will now hit another new milestone - taking charge of his 100th Champions League contest for Man City.
Guardiola will therefore become just the third head coach to manage 100 European Cup/Champions League matches with an English side, after Sir Alex Ferguson's 190 for Manchester United and Arsene Wenger's 177 with Arsenal.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has taken charge of 183 games in the competition in total, only fewer than Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti (218), and his 115 wins is just nine below Ancelotti's unparalleled 124.
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