Erling Haaland set to smash huge Cristiano Ronaldo Champions League record

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is on track to smash Cristiano Ronaldo's precious goalscoring record in the Champions League.

Haaland, 22, has recently secured the goalscoring record within a singular Premier League season after netting his 35th effort of the season against West Ham United.

As well as his 35 goals and seven assists within the top flight of English football, the Norwegian goal machine has also added 16 goals and one assist across the remaining other competitions, including the pinnacle of club football - the Champions League.

His 12 goals in the European competition have helped propel Pep Guardiola's City side into the semi-finals of the tournament, as they look to secure the one accolade that has so far eluded the legendary manager across his time in Manchester.

Standing in his way is an old foe in the form of Real Madrid, who are fresh off claiming their eighth title last season in the competition after beating Liverpool 1-0 in the final just over a year ago.

Regardless of the outcome of their semi-final which kickstarts on Wednesday evening, Haaland is on course to have historic success within the competition which will now concern one of the greatest players to have graced the game, Cristiano Ronaldo.

A graph detailing Champions League goalscorers and matches played (reddit/soccer)

As shown by the graph above, Haaland is on track to smash Ronaldo's 140-goal record in the Champions League in significantly fewer games, with the Real Madrid legend taking over 175 games to reach his tally while Haaland takes just over 100. Assuming his ridiculous goalscoring form continues to span across all competitions for the foreseeable future.

City have come close to securing their first European title before after reaching the final against Chelsea back in 2020/21. However, on that occasion, they ultimately tasted defeat as Kai Havertz's lone effort was enough to seal victory for Thomas Tuchel's side at the time.