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Kane's nine in nine – how do top ten scorers compare?

Harry Kane achieved a competition first when he struck his ninth goal on his ninth appearance – all-time leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo took 36 games to reach that figure!

Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane met during this season's group stage
Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane met during this season's group stage ©Getty Images

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is the first player to score nine goals in his opening nine UEFA Champions League appearances – how did the competition's all-time leading scorers compare when they first graced Europe's biggest stage?

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HARRY KANE

Kane drew a blank on his competition debut last season – a 2-1 home defeat by Monaco on matchday one – but went on to find the net twice in the rest of the group stage. This campaign, he has added seven more to his tally and trails only Cristiano Ronaldo in the race to be top scorer.

Ronaldo may lead the way this term and all-time, but his start was more tortoise to Kane's hare. The Portugal forward took 31 games to break his duck – with a double for Manchester United against Roma – and didn't reach nine until his 36th appearance in the competition proper. It's fair to stay he's stepped on the gas since then, though.

Watch Ronaldo's century of European goals

How do the top ten all-time leading scorers compare to Kane?

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 116 goals
Goals in first nine games: 0
Appearances to reach nine goals: 36

2. Lionel Messi – 98 goals
Goals in first nine games: 2
Appearances to reach nine goals: 23

3. Raúl González – 71 goals
Goals in first nine games: 7
Appearances to reach nine goals: 21

4. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 56 goals
Goals in first nine games: 7
Appearances to reach nine goals: 15

5. Karim Benzema – 53 goals
Goals in first nine games: 6
Appearances to reach nine goals: 14

Ronaldo, Messi and Henry: round of 16 memories

6. Thierry Henry – 50 goals
Goals in first nine games: 7
Appearances to reach nine goals: 21

7= Zlatan Ibrahimović – 48 goals
Goals in first nine games: 5
Appearances to reach nine goals: 34

7= Andriy Shevchenko – 48 goals
Goals in first nine games: 6
Appearances to reach nine goals: 16

9. Filippo Inzaghi – 46 goals
Goals in first nine games: 6
Appearances to reach nine goals: 17

10. Robert Lewandowski – 45 goals
Goals in first nine games: 3
Appearances to reach nine goals: 17

*All stats group stage to final only

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