Top 5 scorers in the UEFA Champions League in 2021
It's been an amazing year in the UEFA Champions League. Europe's premier club competition has produced many incredible moments over the last 12 months that we can't get enough of.
While the knockout stage of the 2020-21 season was intense, the group stage of the current season (2021-22) also delivered immensely. Overall, it was a year that will remain etched in our memories.
Individual records galore in the UEFA Champions League in 2021
As we wrap up the European football calendar year, it's time to look back on what transpired in the Champions League this year. There were many prolific individual scorers, who created records galore.
On that note, here's a look at the five players who registered the most Champions League strikes in 2021:
#5 Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City) - 9 goals
Riyad Mahrez may be a surprise inclusion, but he has been Manchester City's best player in Europe this year.
He played a big part in helping City reach their first Champions League final last season. Mahrez scored key goals in the wins over Borussia Dortmund and PSG, and has continued in much the same vein this season as well.
🤩"@Mahrez22 loves the big stages, we scored 4 goals and he scored 3 of them!"
👏What performance from @Mahrez22 over the 2 legs vs @PSG_Inside! https://t.co/OekEUAd6An
The Algerian ace added five goals to his tally in the 2021-22 group stage, the most in City's squad. Unsurprisingly, he is also their top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League this year.
#4 Kylian Mbappe (PSG) - 10 goals
Kylian Mbappe hasn't looked back since bursting onto the European scene in 2016 with AS Monaco. He has scored 30 Champions League goals since then, becoming the youngest player to reach the landmark.
A third of those strikes came this year. Mbappe started with an amazing hat-trick against Barcelona at the Camp Nou in February. That made him only the second visiting player to score a Champions League hat-trick at the Camp Nou.
🔴🔵 First game against Barcelona for Kylian Mbappé = ⚽️⚽️⚽️
😮 Second visiting player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick in the Camp Nou...
@KMbappe | @PSG_English | #UCL https://t.co/LAILPnVoAC
The Frenchman then struck twice against Bayern Munich as PSG dumped out the holders in the quarter-finals. This season, he has added four more to his tally, netting once apiece against RB Leipzig and City, and twice against Club Brugge on Tuesday.
With such scalps to his name, Mbappe has shown his big-game pedigree once again.