5 dark horses for the Champions League Golden Boot
Just two game weeks into the 2017/18 Champions League group stages and the race for the Golden Boot is already gaining steam. Last season’s winner Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to emulate his own record as he vies to become the first man ever to win six consecutive Champions League Golden Boot awards.
Lionel Messi will be another favourite to challenge Ronaldo to win the top honour, but the Portuguese forward has got the better of Messi in Europe's elite tournament over the last couple of years.
Messi shared the award back in 2014/15 with the Portuguese talisman and Neymar. Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez, and Neymar are a few others who will be eager to take top spot as well and remain favourites being part of strong squads that can go far in the tournament.
We take a look at five players who might surprise a few and take on the challenge of competing with the aforementioned stars.
1) Alvaro Morata
Chelsea's €70 million acquisition of Spanish striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, to replace out-of-favour compatriot Diego Costa has turned out to be fruitful judging by the start of the campaign. Morata has quickly found his range racking up a good tally of seven goals this season.
He was heavily criticised on his arrival at Stamford Bridge with reports of the club buying a sub-par striker in comparison to Costa. However, Morata’s start to life with Chelsea in England has been nothing short of marvellous and fans will expect more of the same from their Spanish talisman in Europe.
Morata has kicked off his season in Europe scoring a key goal in Chelsea's 1-2 away victory over Athletico Madrid.
The former Juventus talisman has thrived since his move to England working under former manager Antonio Conte, who the Spaniard has a good relationship with. Morata has scored in his last five outings, with last night's goal in his Champions League debut for Chelsea, kicking off his European dream to win the golden boot.
Morata, a former Champions League finalist with Juventus and winner with Real Madrid last season, has the required experience to guide Chelsea all the way and possibly finish the tournament with the most number of goals.