Erling Haaland has surpassed Sergio Agüero as Manchester City’s record scorer in the UEFA Champions League, reaching the landmark with the first of his two goals in Wednesday’s 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Erling Haaland overtook Sergio Aguero as Manchester City's all-time record UEFA Champions League goalscorer on Wednesday night.More Videos
Manchester City’s 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain was, to say the least, game of two halves. Three goals down at the break, Enzo Maresca’s side looked completely different after the interval and gave the Champions League holders a real fright.
One figure stood out above the rest, as he so often does - and that man also claimed yet another record while he was at it.
Erling Haaland scored both of Manchester City’s goals on the night, and the first of them carried extra significance, moving him clear of one of the most celebrated names in the club’s modern history.
Past a City great
Haaland’s first strike of the evening, a flicked header from Iliman Ndiaye’s cross, was his 37th Champions League goal for Manchester City - one beyond the 36 that Sergio Agüero had managed.
The Norwegian’s second, which ended up being the last goal of the game, carried him to 38 and extended a record that now belongs to him alone. While it ultimately proved to be a disappointing night for City, there can be no diminishing Haaland’s achievement.
Agüero’s tally had stood as the club-best in the competition for nearly all of the post-takeover era, a mark set by a striker whose name is synonymous with City’s rise. To see that record fall is testament to the exceptional prowess of Haaland.
A different pace to Agüero
What stands out is the speed of Haaland’s ascent. Agüero scored his 36 European goals for City between 2011 and 2021, needing 64 Champions League appearances to do so - a fantastic ratio by any measure.
However, Haaland has gone beyond him in a little over four seasons since his 2022 arrival, in just 41 games. This is no slight on the Argentine. Rather, it is a reminder that Manchester City’s current talisman is operating on a different level to almost any other forward in the game’s history.
Agüero’s overall Champions League haul reaches 41 once his earlier years at Atlético Madrid are counted, a total that places him among the competition’s prolific names. He currently sits between Ferenc Puskas and Alessandro Del Piero in the all-time top scorer list.
Among the competition’s elite
Of course, Haaland’s Champions League story didn’t begin at the Etihad Stadium. Many fans first took note of him during an incredible run for Red Bull Salzburg in the 2019-20 group stage.
The Norwegian kept up that deadly form for Borussia Dortmund, meaning his overall Champions League total has already climbed past 60. His goals-per-game ratio is also the finest of any player to score 25 times or more in the Champions League, with only 1970’s hero Gerd Müller getting anywhere close in that regard.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on 140, and Lionel Messi, on 129, sit far off on the horizon. At 26, though, Haaland has plenty of time, and few would bet against him closing the gap.