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The UEFA Champions League is perhaps the most prestigious football tournament alongside the FIFA World Cup. Every season, 32 of the best European clubs battle it out to determine who can become Europe's elite.
While even bare qualifications are financially significant, becoming champions brings unparalleled glory in power and prestige.
The key to winning any football match ultimately depends on the ability to score goals. A tight defense is highly crucial, but a football team can't win the match unless they can score and have a lead to defend.
Over the years, the UEFA Champions League has been graced by some of Europe's elite marksmen. Some of them are not even traditional forwards which makes their appearances in the following list remarkable.
Champions League has produced plenty of goals and drama this season
In the 2021-22 season, the UEFA Champions League is only five matchdays old. However, there has been no shortage of goals. Several strikers have already put their best foot forward in terms of becoming the top-scorer of the competition.
Keeping nothing but goals on our minds, we rank the eight players to have scored the most goals after Matchday 5 of a particular season in Champions League history:
#8 Ruud van Nistelrooy - 8 goals
Young fans today won't remember just how good the Dutchman was for Manchester United in front of goal. Ruud van Nistelrooy was well known for his clinical finishing and brilliant technical abilities on the pitch.
Nistelrooy, who spent eight years at Manchester United, sadly didn't lift the Champions League with the Red Devils.
In 2004-05, Van Nistelrooy almost achieved a double tally after matchday 5 but was ultimately stuck on eight goals. As such, he ranks at the bottom of this particular list, which in itself is a commendable achievement.
#7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 8 goals
The great Zlatan Ibrahimovic may not have won the UEFA Champions League, but his attacking prowess and abilities cannot be denied. Ibrahimovic has traveled all over Europe and played for some of the biggest clubs in the circuit. He has won multiple trophies over the years and is a serial winner.
In 2013-14, Ibrahimovic had already scored eight goals for French club PSG after only five matches in the Champions League campaign. However, PSG failed to go all the way in the competition.
#6 Erling Haaland - 8 goals
Is Erling Haaland even a man or a machine? He held the Champions League record for highest goal scorer after match day 5 of a debut season until recently
The Norwegian marksman has taken the world by storm since his debut for Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg.
It would be kind of an insult if Haaland is regarded as a wonderkid as he is already one of world football's best strikers. The scary part is that he is just getting started.
Although an unfortunate injury has curtailed his Borussia Dortmund campaign this season, let's take a moment to look at just how good he was for Salzburg in the 2019-20 season.
Salzburg were in a tricky group with heavyweights like Liverpool and Napoli. To score eight goals in five matches against such opponents is no easy task.
In hindsight, it can be easily claimed that his exploits back then made the big boys of Europe sit up and take notice of Haaland.
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo - 8 goals
If the UEFA Champions League is the fountain of youth, Cristiano Ronaldo is the Indiana Jones of it. "Mr. Champions League" shows no stopping in Europe's top competition despite being on the wrong end of his 30s.
Ronaldo has already scored six goals from five matches for Manchester United in the competition this term. He has been the reason why the Red Devils sit at the top of Group F despite playing in average fashion.
Ronaldo's highest tally after matchday five in the Champions League is eight goals and he has achieved this not once, but twice.
In the 2013-14 and 2017-18 seasons, he scored eight goals in five games while donning Real Madrid's whites.
The Portuguese has also won the Champions League four times, including thrice in a row, for the Spanish club over the course of his stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.
#4 Luiz Adriano - 9 goals
Luiz Adriano remains one of those Brazilian forwards who has been consistent performers in Europe since making the switch from their native country. He plays as a central striker who is well known for his footballing intelligence, adaptability and technical brightness.
Adriano is also well-known for his use of physical strength to shield the ball and had the ability to score with both feet.
It was with Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk that Adriano made it big. He carved out a name for himself over there during his playing days and was a pivotal figure for the record Ukrainian champions.
His standout performance came in the 2014-15 Champions League where he did one better than Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy by scoring nine goals after five matchdays.
#3 Sebastien Haller - 9 goals
Under Erik ten Hag in the Champions League, Ajax have been remarkable to watch and they have defied all odds in a group where they were not the favorites.
It is also quite remarkable how Sebastien Haller has turned his career this season since making the switch to the Dutch champions. His West Ham spell was a poor one in all aspects, but Haller has found a new lease of life in Amsterdam.
Haller has been incredibly consistent and precise with his finishing and has scored nine goals in the current campaign. It will be interesting to see how far this Ajax team will progress and how many more goals Haller will add in the current Champions League campaign.
#2 Lionel Messi - 9 goals
The term "Messi" is enough to draw the attention of any football fan, for such is the diminutive Argentine's aura when it comes to the beautiful game. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are considered two of the greatest ever footballers.
The Argentine magician has many records to his name and has been at the top level for so long.
While Ronaldo has outscored Messi in the Champions League, Messi has one over the Portuguese for the highest goal in the first five games. In 2016-17, Messi registered nine goals after Champions League Matchday 5.
#1 Robert Lewandowski - 10 goals
One footballer scored more goals than both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after the first five games of a Champions League season and he is none other than Robert Lewandowski.
Not only has Lewandowski outscored the magnificent duo, but he is also the only footballer to date to reach double figures in goals after the first five games. He achieved this feat in the Champions League campaign of 2019-20.
But Lewandowski is not someone who rests on his laurels as he came very close to matching his record in this year's Champions League campaign. The Bayern Munich marksman fell short by just one goal though. His superb overhead kick against Dynamo Kyiv on Matchday 5 of the ongoing Champions League season took his tally to nine goals.
