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The 2021-22 Champions League season is set to come to an end this weekend, as six-time European champions Liverpool take on the 13-time winners Real Madrid. The Champions League is the preeminent club football competition in the world and has been graced by many brilliant strikers over the years.
Goal-scoring efficiency is vital in the Champions League
Some of these great centre-forwards have been highly efficient in the competition and have made every second on the pitch count.
On that note, let's take a look at 5 players with the best minute-per-goal ratio in Champions League history.
#5 Harry Kane- 104 minutes per goal
Harry Kane was the driving force for Tottenham Hotspur's fourth-place finish in the Premier League this season, thanks to which they will play in the Champions League next term.
The Englishman has played in the tournament on four previous occasions, with all of them coming under Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentinian brought the best out of the striker, quite like how Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have managed in recent seasons. But under the Argentinian, Kane was unstoppable and managed to score 20 goals in just 24 UCL matches, at a rate of 104 minutes per goal.
Kane will be eager to maintain, or rather better, this record next season and take his club deep into the competition.
#4 Lionel Messi- 104 minutes per goal
Lionel Messi is probably the greatest footballer who ever lived and is the second-highest goal-scorer in Champions League history.
The Argentinian maestro is a genius with the ball at his feet and knows the back of the net better than any other player on the planet. His mesmerizing solo goals in the knockout stages of the competition have not been forgotten by Barcelona fans. While he is yet to produce similar moments for Paris Saint-Germain, few will bet against him doing so in the coming years.
The South American legend has so far scored 125 goals in 156 UCL appearances at a rate of one goal per 104 minutes. If Messi hits the ground running next season, it would not be a surprise if he moves up this list by the end of the next campaign.
#3 Roberto Soldado- 102 minutes per goal
Roberto Soldado turned 37 recently, and while he may be close to hanging up his boots, he has had a decent career in top-flight football.
Although not the main man at most of his clubs, Soldado was one of the most efficient goal-scorers of his time. The Spaniard only needed a couple of chances to bury the ball in the back of the net, which was appreciated by most of his managers. The centre-forward has only played five seasons in the Champions League but has managed to score 16 goals in 23 games during that period.
He did all this by scoring at a rate of 102 minutes per goal. The attacker was not the most consistent striker of his time but surely made his chances count on the big stage.
#2 Mario Gomez- 102 minutes per goal
Mario Gomez may have retired from the game in 2020 but Bayern Munich fans will have fond memories of the burly striker.
Although he only spent four seasons at the club, the 36-year-old ace arrived at a time when they had the best creators in Europe in Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. The presence of a young Thomas Muller also played a key role in the same, but Gomez was the final piece of the puzzle.
He had a knack for arriving late in the box, while also aerially outmatching most of his opponents. His technical brilliance was pretty underrated, but it was this quality that facilitated the entire attack to function smoothly.
Gomez scored 24 goals in 43 Champions League games, including in the 2013 UCL winning final. He netted at a rate of 102 minutes per goal, which is quite a feat, considering the kind of big names missing from this list.
#1 Erling Haaland- 64 minutes per goal
Erling Haaland is arguably the brightest centre-forward in European football right now and Manchester City certainly know that they have landed a gem.
A goal-machine, Haaland took his game to the next level at Borussia Dortmund following an incredible couple of seasons at RB Salzburg. The 21-year-old star is breaking records all the time, including in the Champions League. The Norwegian star has racked up 21 goals in just 19 UCL games so far and his numbers are only likely to improve under Pep Guardiola.
To put things into perspective, Haaland has scored one UCL goal per 64 minutes, way better than anyone on this list, and has proved his mettle as an elite goal-scorer at just 21.
