Haaland continues his European madness: a new historic record in the Champions League

Erling Haaland opened his Champions League campaign in typical fashion. The Norwegian fired Manchester City to a precious 2-0 win at Porto on Tuesday evening at the Estadio do Dragao, in the first round of the league phase.

City's striker broke the deadlock early in the second half. In the 47th minute, he rose to meet a well-placed cross from new signing Enzo Fernandez and powered a header off the post and into the net.

The final blow came in the first minute of stoppage time. Haaland followed up a magical pass from Algeria's Rayan Ait-Nouri inside the area, striking a low ball the goalkeeper could not keep out.

According to football statistics specialists "Squawka", the goal took the Norwegian to 59 in Champions League history, moving him past German star Thomas Muller on 57 and up to seventh on the competition's all-time scoring list. He has managed the lot in just 59 matches.

A goal a game is a terrifying rate, and it leaves the seven greats who have crossed 58 Champions League goals trailing in his wake. Lionel Messi, his closest pursuer, needed 76 matches to reach that figure. Robert Lewandowski took 83, Kylian Mbappe 89. The rest of the legends lag further back still: Cristiano Ronaldo needed 96 matches, Karim Benzema 108, and Raul Gonzalez got there after 111.