We’re two matchdays away from wrapping up the Champions League group stage and the race for the Golden Boot is getting tight. Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland, and Mohamed Salah are leading the pack with five goals apiece, while four other standouts have notched four goals each.
Haaland and Salah’s goals are the main reasons why Manchester City and Liverpool are going to advance to the knockout stages, and probably make a deep run into this tournament.
Meanwhile, Lewandowski is having a solid campaign individual-wise but that hasn’t translated to success for his team Barcelona. The Catalan giants are in danger of dropping down to the Europa League as groupmates Bayern Munich and Inter Milan have taken the top spots in Group C.
Without further ado, continue to read on below as SBOTOP reviews the pacesetters for the Golden Boot award.
Robert Lewandowski
The Pole hasn’t skipped a beat since moving to Barca this summer. Many wondered on whether his success in the Bundesliga could translate in Spain, but he has been living up to the hype thus far.
Just like in Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski is the team’s top scorer with 14 goals and three assists, with five of those goals coming in the Champions League.
Lewy unloaded on poor Viktoria Plzen in their first Champions League group stage game by notching a hat-trick. Unfortunately, they couldn’t score against his old team Bayern Munich and versus Inter Milan.
The 34-year-old got back on the scoring column in their 3-3 draw against Inter Milan last Thursday, and those two goals were needed for the Blaugrana to salvage a point.
Barcelona would need to win against Bayern Munich and Viktoria Plzen in their remaining group stage games. But even if they do, their Champions League fate is no longer within their full control.
The likeliest scenario is that they’ll be back in the Europa League for the second consecutive season so Robert Lewandowski will not be in the Champions League Golden Boot race eventually.
But with much lower quality of competition there, he should continue to deliver more goals for the Catalan giants to give them a realistic shot of winning silverware this season besides La Liga.
Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has been a godsend to Manchester City. At the rate he’s going right now, we won’t be surprised if he’ll breach the 50-goal threshold across all competitions at the end of this season.
He’s the team’s outright scoring leader with 20 goals and three assists, with five of them coming in the Champions League.
Haaland registered a brace in their 4-0 beatdown against Sevilla in the opener, and he also scored the go-ahead goal to beat his former employers Borussia Dortmund in their come-from-behind 2-1 victory.
The Norwegian also tallied a brace against Copenhagen for their 5-0 win earlier this month, but Manchester City were surprisingly held to a goalless draw in their reverse fixture last week.
Still, the Sky Blues are in great shape to advance to the knockout stages because of their positive Champions League 2022 results and they remain as one of the favourites according to the Champions League 2022 odds.
If Manchester City finally win it all this season, it would likely be on the back of a Golden Boot-calibre campaign from Erling Haaland.
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool may have struggled in the Premier League this season, but so far they haven’t in the Champions League. The Reds are currently eighth in the English top-flight table with 13 points, while in the Champions League, they’re second behind Napoli in Group A with nine points.
Mohamed Salah is one of the main reasons why Liverpool are having a strong Champions League campaign. He is their leading scorer with nine goals across all competitions, with five of them coming in this particular tournament.
After losing 4-1 to Napoli in the opener, the Reds won three consecutive group stage matches against Ajax and Rangers (twice).
Salah found the back of the net once against Ajax, and then he went on to score four versus the Scottish Premiership side – which includes an impressive seven-minute hat-trick in their 7-1 demolition job last Thursday.
The Egyptian also scored the marginal goal during their recent win against Manchester City at Anfield to put an end to their winless drought in the Premier League. That victory might prove to be a pivotal moment for them moving forward.
Even if they’re not in their best form right now, don’t sleep on Liverpool since they’re still a force to be reckoned with.
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