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UEFA Champions League group stage matches may not be as nail-biting as the knockouts, but they are hardly any less important. These fixtures set the tone for the remainder of the season, foretelling what to expect from the biggest European teams and their players.
Today we will be taking a look at four goalscorers who have taken UEFA Champions League group stage fixtures seriously.
Here are the only four players who have scored 10 or more goals in the UEFA Champions League group stage:
#4 Robert Lewandowski (2019-20) - 10 goals
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski is rated one of the best strikers in the history of European football and for good reason. The Poland international can score for fun, create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates, and has excellent game-reading skills.
Seeing him miss out on the Ballon d’Or in 2021 has been gut-wrenching for many, but the 33-year-old isn’t letting it affect his game.
Since bursting onto the scene with four goals against Real Madrid in the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League, Lewandowski has been constantly improving. He may very well be on the wrong side of 30, but he has never looked more menacing.
In 2019-20, Lewandowski produced one of his best individual spells in the UEFA Champions League to lead Bayern Munich to a treble. In the opening five group stage matches that season, Lewandowski bagged 10 goals. Coach Hansi Flick decided to rest him for the sixth UEFA Champions League group stage clash.
Lewandowski scored five goals in the next four knockout fixtures, ushering Bayern into the final. He did not score the winner against Paris Saint-Germain in the final, but he was still Bayern’s most valiant warrior in that UEFA Champions League campaign.
#3 Sebastien Haller (2021-22) - 10 goals
Ajax star Sebastien Haller has become the fourth and latest player to score 10 or more goals in the UEFA Champions League group stage. From being a West Ham United reject to this season’s leading scorer in the premier European club competition, Haller’s rise has been nothing short of astonishing.
Under Eric Ten Hag, the Ivory Coast international has had the opportunity to work on his goalscoring traits. He reads the game better than many of his contemporaries and is not reluctant to drop deep when needed. Thanks to his goals, Ajax have sailed into the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 and there could be a few more in the knockouts.
Haller made his UEFA Champions League debut on 15th September 2021, in Ajax’s Group C opener against Sporting Lisbon. He bagged four goals on the night, helping the Dutch side to a 5-1 win.
In the return leg, on matchday six, he scored another to maintain Ajax’s 100 percent record in the competition. Against Besiktas and Borussia Dortmund, Haller registered five goals and two assists over two legs.
#2 Lionel Messi (2016-17) - 10 goals
Lionel Messi, the second-highest scorer in UEFA Champions League history, moved to PSG at the start of the 2021-22 campaign. The Argentine moved to Paris after seeing out his Barcelona contract and is now determined to inspire PSG to their first UEFA Champions League title.
So far, Messi has proven to be a crucial player for PSG in the UEFA Champions League, having already scored five goals in six appearances.
Messi’s knack for scoring in UEFA Champions group stage fixtures is no secret. The Argentine used to score for fun in group stage fixtures for Barcelona and has kept up the good work at PSG.
In the 2016-17 campaign, Lionel Messi touched double digits in only five UEFA Champions League fixtures. He kicked off the campaign with a hat-trick and an assist against Celtic, helping Barcelona to a 3-1 win.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner missed the next outing against Borussia Monchengladbach with a muscle issue, but came back with another hat-trick against Manchester City. He added four more goals in the next three games, securing Round of 16 football for the Blaugrana.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (2015-16) - 11 goals
UEFA Champions League leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo sits at the top of our table and deservedly so. The mercurial Portuguese has done it all in the greatest club competition in Europe and remains hungry as ever to set new records.
Ronaldo has played for some of the most decorated clubs in his career, but reached the apex of his goalscoring prowess at Real Madrid. Thanks to Los Blancos’ world-class creators, Ronaldo never had to wait too long for a mouth-watering opportunity to arrive.
The Portugal captain helped Real Madrid to four UEFA Champions League titles, with three of them coming consecutively between 2016 and 2018.
Ronaldo was nothing short of a sensation for Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, and he came out all guns blazing in the 2015-16 campaign. He opened his 2015-16 UEFA Champions League account with a hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk in a 4-0 win. He followed it up with a match-winning brace against Malmo.
He couldn’t score in the next two games against PSG, but bounced back on matchday five with a brace of goals and assists against Shakhtar. He capped off his campaign with four goals and an assist in a 8-0 victory over Swedish side Malmo.
