The favourites for the Champions League Golden Boot

This season’s top three goalscorers in the Champions League are arguably a reflection of the world’s top three strikers over the last four or five years.

Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah have all bagged five goals this season and lead the charts after matchday four.  

Question is, which one of these three men has had the biggest impact on their side? 

Here, we take a closer look at the three men and see what exactly they bring to the table for their respective clubs.  

Erling Haaland 

You could argue that the only reason Haaland is not ahead of his two rivals is simply because he didn’t play in Man City’s recent Champions League outing.

The Norwegian forward watched Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with FC Copenhagen from the bench.  

Manager Pep Guardiola seemingly rested his star striker ahead of a crunch Premier League clash with Liverpool at the weekend. 

Nevertheless, Haaland still had enough time to bag five goals during the group stage.  

Braces against Sevilla and FC Copenhagen, plus a winning goal against Borussia Dortmund, underlined his fierce scoring form.  

The player has already scored 20 goals in 12 games across all competitions and is on course for a record-breaking season.  

One thing City’s recent 0-0 draw in Copenhagen proved is just how important Haaland is to this team’s potential successes.  

Last year, it was the lack of a potent goal getter which arguably cost the Citizens their Champions League hopes.  

However, with the Norway international in scintillating form, expect the Sky Blues to contend for every bit of silverware they can get their hands on.  

Robert Lewandowski 

At the age of 34, Robert Lewandowski arrived at Barcelona with many thinking his best years were behind him.  

The Pole has since quashed that notion following an excellent start to life in Spain.  

Lewandowski has scored 14 goals in 12 games across all competitions and has been a revelation for Barcelona.  

However, while Lewy continues to chip in with important goals, Xavi’s men are struggling to maintain a similar level of quality in other areas of the pitch.  

Their flaws were exposed in the Champions League as the team lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich before going down 1-0 away at Inter, and drawing with the Italians 3-3 at home.  

Lewandowski scored twice in Wednesday’s draw, though his brace wasn’t enough to rescue Barca’s floundering European campaign.  

The team are currently third in the group and will need to pick up a win over Bayern Munich to have a shot at progression.  

To make matters worse, the Catalan outfit will also need Inter to slip up against Viktoria Plzen, which is rather unlikely considering how frugal the Czech side have been in the competition so far.  

Three of Lewandowski’s five goals in the Champions League came against Plzen during the opening matchday.  

However, should the Spaniards fail to progress, Lewy will be forced to find his goals in a competition he never entered as a Bayern Munich player – the Europa League.  

Mohamed Salah 

While Haaland and Lewandowski have been somewhat instrumental in their team’s goalscoring fortunes, the same cannot be said about Mohamed Salah.  

The 30-year-old forward has scored seven goals in 12 games across all competitions this season.  

Five of those efforts have come in Europe in what has proved to be a rollercoaster group campaign for the Reds.  

Liverpool are second in their group and appear to be on track for progression despite kicking off with a 4-1 defeat at Napoli.  

Interestingly, only one of Salah’s goals in the Champions League has made a difference to the outcome of a game.  

The Egypt international scored the opener in a 2-1 win over Ajax last month – a pivotal victory in the context of the group.  

Salah did make headlines for scoring the fastest hat-trick in the competition’s history on Wednesday, but his efforts didn’t have much change on the destination of the three points, considering Jurgen Klopp's men won 7-1 at Ibrox.

Liverpool were already 3-1 up by the time the striker bagged his first. What’s more, the Rangers defence is not exactly famed for its resistance this season.  

With that in mind, you could argue that of the top three goalscorers in the Champions League right now, Salah takes third place when it comes to the impact of his goals on the team.  

Lewandowski, in that same regard, would have to come second, while Haaland would be top for leading his men in frightening fashion.