The top scorer in the UEFA Champions League after a remarkable group stage, Ajax’s Sébastien Haller has been commanding attention in his first season in Europe’s top club competition.
The 1.90m-tall 27-year-old was reportedly Ajax’s most expensive signing ever when he arrived from West Ham last winter, and he has kept breaking records as the Dutch champions won all six of their Group C games, finishing nine points clear of their nearest competitors. UEFA.com checks out the Ivory Coast international’s back story.
What has he achieved so far?
He became the first player to score four on his UEFA Champions League debut (in the 5-1 Matchday 1 success at Sporting CP) since Marco van Basten got all of AC Milan’s goals in a 4-0 defeat of IFK Göteborg in his first match in the inaugural competition, in November 1992. “I still don’t believe it. It’s kind of a dream,” Haller told UEFA.com.
Haller also tops the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League scorers rankings with ten goals, one more than Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski. Erling Haaland scored as many last season when he ended the competition as top marksman.
Again the Ivorian Became the fastest player to reach ten goals in the UEFA Champions League, in only six games.
Moreover he scored in all six of his group stage games; only Cristiano Ronaldo, with Real Madrid in 2017/18, had done this before.
UEFA.com
