With the first leg semi-final round of the 2021-2022 UEFA Championship set to blast off this weekend, and the second leg on May 3 and 4, football fans are on edge, waiting to see which among Manchester City, Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Villareal would make it to the final round.
Another intriguing question being tossed around is who will stand out among the players and propel their respective teams to the 2021/2022 UEFA Championship glory. While the Champions’ League is a competition among topnotch football clubs in Europe, it has also drawn the interest of football fans in Asia, specifically Thailand through the sportsbook site bettingnews88.
Most Prodigious Scorer
At this time, Bayern top scorer Robert Lewandowski is the league’s most prodigious scorer, with 13 points. Unfortunately, Lewandowski won’t be adding any more points to his name after his team Bayern FC found Villareal FC a tough nut to crack in the quarterfinals, and missed the boat to the four-team semis.
This leaves Frenchman Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, who has scored 12 points so far, with a golden opportunity to overtake Polish striker Lewandowski and earn the league’s highest scorer honor this season.
After all, the French striker has the experience, reputation, consistency, and skills to score points against the best of the best, which is the UEFA Champions’ League. As a case in point, the 34-year-old forward exploded with four points, including an impressive hat-trick, against Chelsea in the quarterfinals encounter to eliminate the defending champion from the competition.
Benzema Joins Football Greats
Pundits compare Benzema to football greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, which invariably means he’s the best football player in his present form. They will certainly be watching trBenzema’s game against Manchester City to affirm such accolade. A score and a victory over Manchester City, and maybe against Liverpool or Villareal, would seal his place in the constellation of football stars.
French-Ivorian Ajax forward Sebastien Haller, who represents Ivory Coast in international tournaments, charted the same fate as Lewanowski. Before Ajax’ game against Benfica that derailed his chances of playing more games and adding more goals to his name, Haller was the league’s top scorer with 11 points, followed by Lewanowski and Benzema.
With 11 big points, it is not likely that he would still be dislodged from his lofty ranking at 3rd place, with just four teams left standing – Liverpool, Villarreal, Manchester City, and Real Madrid – from an original 32 topnotch football clubs from across Europe.
After all, the players who will challenge Haller’s scoring binge would have to come from the four semis qualifiers, with Mohamed Salah of Liverpool being his closest rival with 8 points, followed by Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City) and Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal), both with 6 points.
Top Scorers
While it is not impossible for a single player to score two or more points in a single game, it takes superior skills and luck to achieve this end in crucial championship games, specifically in tournaments like the UEFA Champions’ League.
Below is a list of top scorers after the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League:
Players Team Scores
- Robert Lewandowski Bayern 13
- Karim Benzema Real Madrid 12
- Sébastien Haller Ajax 11
- Mohamed Salah Liverpool 8
- Christopher Nkunku Leipzig 7
- Leroy Sané Bayern 6
- Kylian Mbappé Paris 6
- Riyad Mahrez Manchester City 6
- Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 6
- Arnaut Danjuma Villarreal 6
- Darwin Núñez Benfica 6
- Lionel Messi Paris 5
- Roberto Firmino Liverpool 5
- Pedro Gonçalves Sporting CP 4
- Antoine Griezmann Atlético 4
- Thomas Müller Bayern 4
- Timo Werner Chelsea 4
Of these17 players, only seven, or less than half, would still have the best chances of scoring more points to raise the bar of their football achievements.