UCL Goals Before 21st Birthday : Super Eagles Striker In Top 5, Level With Barca, Real Madrid Legends

Published: February 18, 2021

Europe's football governing body, UEFA has published the players with the most Champions League goals before the age of 21, with a Nigeria international making the cut.

Former Monaco striker now at Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappe is the top scoring player with nineteen goals to his name, followed by Borussia Dortmund's extraordinary talent Erling Braut Haaland with eighteen goals.

In third place is Real Marid's Karim Benzema who racked up twelve goals before his 21st birthday while ex-Ajax Amsterdam star Patrick Kluivert comes in fourth with nine goals.

There is a four-way tie for fifth place, with each of ex-Inter Milan striker Obafemi Martins, Barcelona legends Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola, and Real Madrid icon Raúl González scoring eight goals.

Martins scored the first of his Champions League goals on his starting debut in the competition against Bayer Leverkusen on March 19, 2003 and his eighth was against Porto in March 2005.

The Super Eagle netted just one goal in the Champions League after his 21st birthday and it came against Villarreal in the quarterfinals of the competition in March 2006.

Overall, Martins made 34 appearances in the UCL - 25 in the colours of Inter Milan, 4 for Wolfsburg and 5 for Rubin Kazan.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : inter.it

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