March 15 – Erling Haaland became the third player in Champions League history to score five goals in a single game as he led Manchester City to an 7-0 rout of RB Leipzig in the second leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday.
The victory equalled City’s biggest ever in Europe and sent Pep Guardiola’s side into the quarter-finals 8-1 on aggregate, with Ilkay Gundogen and Kevin De Bruyne also on target in a devastating display at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland had netted his fifth City hat-trick in all competitions before half-time to put the English champions on course for the last eight. Two more predatory finishes from close range early in the second half took his tally in his first season at City to 39, setting a new club record.
Only Lionel Messi, when playing for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012, and Luiz Adriano in Shakhtar Donetsk’s 7-0 thrashing of BATE Borisov in 2014 had previously scored five in a Champions League game.
However, Haaland was denied the chance of setting a new record as he was replaced 25 minutes from time by Julian Alvarez.
The Norwegian also became the youngest player to reach 30 Champions League goals as he moved on to 33, hitting that mark in 25 games, the fewest ever.
Despite dominating the Premier League since being taken over by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family in 2008, City have endured a succession of disappointments in the Champions League — reaching the final just once, losing to Chelsea in 2021. But this looks like the season they could finally end that drought.
“It’s a big night. Firstly, I’m proud to play in this competition, I love it. Five goals. To win 7-0 is amazing,” Haaland said. “I’m blurry in my head. I remember shooting but not thinking.”
Elsewhere Inter Milan also reached the last eight with a 0-0 draw with Porto for a 1-0 aggregate win.
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