Ivory Coast’s Sebastien Haller Breaks Champions League Record
On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, Ivory Coast’s striker Sébastien Haller continued his resurgence with Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, etching his place in history with UEFA Champions League – Europe’s greatest club competition.
In a post-match interview with the media, Haller stated:
“I didn’t expect (to score ten times in six matches) especially in my first games. The only thing you want to do is perform well and be in the flow of the game. Ten goals were not in my dreams. So, I can be happy and proud today,”
Ajax scored first with a fifth-minute penalty in a 4-2 triumph over Sporting Lisbon at home in their last group game, giving them six wins in a row. Haller now has 10 goals in six Champions League games, making him the only player in the competition’s history to score in each of his first six games.
He is also the quickest player to score 10 goals in the Champions League, doing so in just six games, breaking the previous record of seven games set by Norwegian attacker Erling Haaland.
He also matched Cristiano Ronaldo for the distinction of being the only player to score in every group stage game. The tournament’s all-time leading scorer achieved the feat while playing for Spanish heavyweights and record 13-time winners Real Madrid during the 2017/2018 season.
After Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Robert Lewandowski, Haller is the fourth player to score at least ten goals in a single Champions League group stage campaign.
Haller is presently the leading scorer in the Bundesliga this season, one point ahead of Lewandowski, with Bayern Munich facing Barcelona on Wednesday night.
This season, he has been in awe-inspiring form for Ajax Amsterdam. Since the start of the European season in 2021/2021, the forward has scored 18 goals for the club.
During this run, the Ivorian Elephant has equaled or surpassed various African records, including that of Samuel Eto’o, whom he just ousted to become the all-time highest African scorer in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
This comes after tying and surpassing Samuel Eto’o’s 8-goal mark. A record set by the former Cameroon Indomitable Lions while playing for Inter Milan in the 2010/2011 UCL season.
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
