“Just another day at the office”. Erling Haaland did not fail to celebrate his 53rd goal scored in the Champions League, after opening the scoring for Manchester City against Villarreal (0-2). Like Kylian Mbappé (60 goals), the Norwegian Cityzens striker has entered the top 10 of the best scorers in the history of the Champions League, overtaking Thierry Henry last season, author of 50 goals in the competition.
Mbappé and Haaland, aged 25 and 26 respectively, still have many years ahead of them to catch up with the three “centenarians” of the C1, Robert Lewandowski with 105 goals (and who is still active) and the football legends Lionel Messi (129 goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (record holder with 140 goals).
For Thierry Henry, who shook the nets in the Champions League with AS Monaco (7 goals), Arsenal (35) and Barça (8), his presence in the top 10 hangs by a thread.
Thierry Henry threatened by Mo Salah
The legendary Gunners scorer is directly threatened by Mohamed Salah, author of 48 goals with Liverpool and who still has until 2027 (for now) to steal 10th place from “Titi” Henry. Harry Kane can easily claim this top 10, having already scored 44 goals in the UCL at the age of 32. By staying at Bayern for a few more years, the former Tottenham captain will have the opportunity to stack up the goals.
Among the other French players in this ranking, Karim Benzema, 4th top scorer with 90 goals, still has a few years ahead of him before being overtaken by Mbappé. Antoine Griezmann entered the top 20 last year and has 43 goals in the Champions League, but Atlético's number 7 is at the end of his career and could leave “Cholo” Simeone next summer. David Trezeguet and Jean-Pierre Papin have 39 and 38 goals in C1.
