UEFA Champions League: Sebastien Haller Breaks Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah's Record, Also Scores Own Goal

• The Ivory Coast's Sebastien Haller chased down history in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League
• The free-scoring Ajax Amsterdam striker was 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
• He was on the scoresheet at both ends against Portugal's SL Benfica, moving past the 10 goal golden mark where he stood with the Senegalese and Egyptian

The Ivory Coast's footballing community was given something to celebrate last night in the UEFA Champions League.

Red-hot Ivorian and Ajax Amsterdam striker Sebastien Haller scored at both ends as the Dutch team drew 2-2 with SL Benfica in Portugal. With the preferred goal, he moved to 11 goals in this season's competition.

This historic strike saw him become the highest goalscoring African player in a single Champions League campaign. He moved ahead of Senegalese Sadio Mane and Egyptian Mohamed Salah, who banged in 10 goals in their time with six-time champions Liverpool.

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The next best is the great Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o, who struck eight times as the unbeatable Barcelona guided Pepe Guardiola waltzed to the title in 2011.

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.

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

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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.