UEFA Champions League: Ivory Coast and Ajax Amsterdam's Sebastien Haller Chasing Mane and Salah Records

• The Ivory Coast's Sebastien Haller will be chasing history in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League
• The free-scoring Ajax Amsterdam striker is currently tied with Liverpool's lethal combo of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah for the most goal's by an African player in a single campaign
• Haller has a minimum two matches, starting with Portugal's SL Benfica, to move past the 10 goal golden mark where he currently stands with the Senegalese and Egyptian

The Ivory Coast's footballing community will be watching the Ajax Amsterdam's remaining UEFA Champions League campaign with added interest.

The Dutch team takes on Portugal's SL Benfica tonight, with its red-hot Ivorian striker Sebastien Haller poised to make history if he plays. Haller is currently tied with Egypt's Mohamed Salah and Senegal's Sadio Mane for the most goals (in a single campaign by an African player.

According to SuperSport, all three players are tied on 10 goals apiece, with one more goal by Haller historically placing him ahead of an illustrious chasing pack. Mane and Salah tied the record while playing for six-time champions Liverpool.

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According to Goal.com, the 27-year-old Haller was born in France to a French father and an Ivorian mother. KickOff reported how he chose to commit his international future to the west African country after being a surprise call-up in late 2020.

Up to that point, Haller had been a fixture in junior French international teams, representing the country at under-16, U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 levels. After an unsuccessful stint at Premier League club West Ham, Haller finally found his feet at four-time European champions Ajax.

Jubilation as Juventus striker sets amazing record in first UEFA Champions League game

In keeping up with the theme of breaking records in the UEFA Champions League, one was broken last night.

As reported by Sports Brief, Dusan Vlahovic needed just 32 seconds to register his name on the scoresheet as Juventus were held to a 1-1 by Spanish side Villareal in the Round-of-16 first-leg tie.

Dusan Vlahovic’s goal was the fastest scored by a debutant in the history of the UEFA Champions League. Incidentally, the fastest goal in the history of the competition came after 10 seconds courtesy of Bayern Munich's Roy Makaay against Real Madrid in 2007.