10 quickest players to score 20 UEFA Champions League goals

Erling Haaland inspired Borussia Dortmund to the quarter-finals of the 2020-21 Champions League with another stellar performance.

The Norwegian ace struck a brace against Sevilla at home for a 5-3 aggregate win for Dortmund, bringing his tally up to ten for the season in the competition. In the process, he became one of the quickest players to reach 20 Champions League goals, reaching the mark in just 14 games.

While he still has a long way to go before catching up with some illustrious names in the Champions League's all-time list, it's still an impressive return, considering Haaland only debuted in the competition 18 months ago.

Ten quickest players to score 20 goals in the Champions League:

Haaland, at 20 years, is the youngest player in Champions League history to score 20 goals in the competition. On that note, let's find out the ten quickest players to score 20 Champions League goals.

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#10 Marco Simone - 35 games

Marco Simone's 20th Champions League strike came in a hat-trick against Sturm Graz in 2000.

A talented striker in his day, Marco Simone scored 150 goals for the likes of AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco.

He often turned up for his sides in the Champions League, too, scoring 23 goals in 40 games, which includes two hat-tricks, the first of which came inside 24 minutes, a record.

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#9 Karim Benzema - 34 games

Karim Benzema scored his 20th Champions League goal against Ajax during a 3-0 win in 2011.

Karim Benzema has scored in each of his last 16 seasons in the Champions League and needs just three more goals to surpass Raul's tally of 71.

However, his beginnings in the competition were modest. The veteran Real Madrid striker only brought up his 20th strike in the competition in his seventh Champions League campaign, doing so against Ajax in 2011 while playing for the Los Blancos.

#8 Jardel - 33 Champions League games

The Brazilian's 20th Champions League goal came for Galatasaray against Monaco in 2000.

A famous journeyman of his day who played for 18 different clubs, Jardel struck almost 400 goals in his career, including 25 in the Champions League.

He also finished as the competition's top scorer in the 1999-2000 season, scoring 10 goals, making him the last Galatasaray player to achieve this feat.

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#7 Rivaldo - 33 games

The Brazilian legend's first 22 goals in the Champions League came with Barcelona.

Another player who scored goals and won trophies galore in his illustrious career is Rivaldo, whose best exploits in the Champions League came with Barcelona.

In fact, 22 of his 27 goals in the competition came while playing for the Blaugrana. That includes his 20th Champions League strike, which came against Olympique Lyon in 2001 from a penalty.

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#6 Mario Gomez - 32 games

Mario Gomez scored 23 Champions League goals for Bayern Munich in four years.

The former German striker's career ended on a whimper, but in his prime, Mario Gomez was a peerless goal-scorer who also netted 26 times in the Champions League from 44 games.

Most of his goals in the competition came with Bayern Munich; he brought up his 20th Champions League in a four-goal blitz against Basel in 2012.

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#5 Filippo Inzaghi - 28 games

Filippo Inzaghi scored 29 times in the Champions League for AC Milan.

A true AC Milan legend, Filippo Inzaghi enjoyed tremendous success with the club for 11 years, lifting two Champions League titles.

He scored 46 times in the competition as well. His 20th, however, came with the Rossoneri in his first season with the club, arriving at the landmark during a hat-trick against Deportivo la Coruna.

#4 Ruud van Nistelrooy - 27 Champions League games

Ruud van Nistelrooy's best Champions League season was in 2002-03, when he scored 12 times from nine games.

An all-time legend who has left his mark in every top-flight league he has played for, Ruud van Nistelrooy boasts a stellar record in the Champions League. He has scored 56 goals in the competition, finishing as the Champions League top-scorer on three separate occasions.

The former Dutch great first made his foray in the competition with PSV Eindhoven before replicating his exploits with Manchester United and Real Madrid too.

In his most prolific season in the competition in 2002-03, Ruud van Nistelrooy netted 12 times in only nine games for Manchester United.

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#3 Alessandro Del Piero - 26 games

'Alessandro Del Piero was one of the most prolific Italian scorers in the Champions League.

Alessandro Del Piero may not have had as much success in the Champions League as he enjoyed domestically, but he still netted 42 goals in the competition across 15 seasons.

The iconic Italian striker most famously struck in each of his first five appearances in the competition and took only 26 games to reach the 20-goal mark.

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#2 Harry Kane - 24 games

Not just in the Premier League, Harry Kane has an impressive record in the Champions League too.

Harry Kane is relatively new to the Champions League, having only made his debut in 2016, but that hasn't stopped him from scoring 20 goals in the competition.

Moreover, they have come in just 24 games against the likes of European heavyweights Juventus, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

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#1 Erling Haaland - 14 games

Erling Haaland has scored more Champions League goals than many big-name players.

Ever since he made his competition debut with Salzburg in September 2019, Erling Haaland has been on a rampage, setting the Champions League stage alight with his blistering scoring exploits.

With a brace on Tuesday, the young Norwegian fireball brought his Champions League tally to 20 goals in a mere 14 games.

In the process, Erling Haaland has surpassed the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti, Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho and Radamel Falcao in the competition's all-time list.