78 Goals in Two Nights, Haaland Can't Stop, Barcelona Nine From Nine: The Striker Report

Roma were 3-1 up on Real Madrid on Wednesday night. Endrick came on just before the hour. He set up one goal, headed in another, and Madrid won 4-3.

That was one game out of eighteen. Champions League Matchday 2 produced 78 goals, the most ever scored in a single Champions League matchday. Then the weekend gave us Haaland breaking a record, Barcelona staying perfect and Mbappé scoring twice, a week before the Clásico.

I'm Etienne Noumen, and this is the written version of this week's Black Mambas of Football and Soccer. Here are this week's top strikers, sorted into three tiers, with what each one did, how his club is doing, and how he compares with a legend at the same age.

The tiers are strikers of the week: picked on this week's form, and open to new names as the week goes on. Mbappé, Haaland, Kane, Yamal and Olise will be in Tier 1 almost every week. Everyone else earns it week by week.

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UEFA counted 78 goals in 18 games on Tuesday and Wednesday. The old record was 71. Nine of the eighteen games had five goals or more.

• Manchester City 2-4 PSG. Doué, Dembélé and Vitinha scored in the first 32 minutes, Akliouche added a fourth, and Haaland's two goals were not enough. Ferran Torres had a late penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
• Roma 3-4 Real Madrid. Donyell Malen scored twice for Roma. Then Carlos Espí, Endrick and Antonio Rüdiger turned it around. Mbappé scored in his 100th Champions League game.
• Inter 3-4 Club Brugge. A Nicolò Tresoldi hat-trick at San Siro.
• Viking 3-3 Bayern. Viking scored after 72 seconds and equalised in the 90th minute. Kane scored twice, and Olise was sent off.
• LASK 3-6 Liverpool. A Bradley Barcola hat-trick.
• Aston Villa 6-0 Fenerbahçe, Villa's biggest ever European win.

Erling Haaland, Manchester City, 26

Four goals in a week: two against PSG and two against Ipswich on Saturday, with a third ruled out for offside. Along the way he became the fastest player ever to 100 non-penalty Premier League goals, in 139 games.

He has 8 league goals, three more than anyone else, and 4 in the Champions League, joint top. City beat Ipswich 3-2 for seven wins from seven, the best start in the club's history. Enzo Maresca is the first manager ever to win his first seven Premier League games in charge of a club. They are three points clear of Arsenal.

The catch: they just conceded four at home to PSG. Haaland also took a knock to the foot, and Antoine Semenyo is out for about eight weeks.

On the Premier League's case against City: no official news this week. The sanction has not been set, and City's appeal is expected to be heard before Christmas.

At the same age: Thierry Henry was 26 in the Invincibles season, 2003-04, and scored 30 Premier League goals. Haaland has 8 in 7, a faster rate.

Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid, 27

He scored in Rome, in his 100th Champions League game, and had another ruled out for offside. Then two against Sevilla on Saturday: one from a lovely Bellingham flick, one from a penalty he won himself. That's 9 La Liga goals, second only to Raphinha.

Madrid are third, six points behind Barcelona, and they go to the Camp Nou on Sunday without Vinícius, banned for four league games for pulling an opponent's hair and protesting to the referee.

At the same age: Cristiano Ronaldo, at 26 and 27, scored 46 La Liga goals in 2011-12, and Madrid won the league with 100 points. The coach was José Mourinho. He is the coach again now.

Harry Kane, Bayern Munich, 33

Two goals and an assist in a 3-3 at Viking. Then a goal and two assists against Leipzig in his 100th Bundesliga game. He now has 102 Bundesliga goals in 100 games.

Bayern won 6-1 and are top on goal difference, level on points with Dortmund. They've scored 18 goals in their first three home league games, a Bundesliga record. Arsenal come to Munich on Wednesday.

At the same age: Robert Lewandowski scored 35 Bundesliga goals at 33. Kane is past a goal a game in Germany and still makes the goals on the days he doesn't score them.

Lamine Yamal, Barcelona, 19

Two assists in a 4-1 win at Galatasaray. Then a goal after ten minutes and another assist in a 5-2 win at Betis, where a Betis player was sent off for headbutting him. That's 8 La Liga goals, and Barcelona are nine from nine, with 39 goals and a six-point lead. He has started all ten games, and Hansi Flick says his minutes need managing. Raphinha came back as a substitute.

At the same age: Lionel Messi scored 14 La Liga goals at 19, in 2006-07, including a Clásico hat-trick. Yamal has eight after nine games, and the Clásico is Sunday.

Michael Olise, Bayern Munich, 24

The bad first: at Viking he was booked twice in about a minute, the second time for throwing the ball at Viking's captain. Vincent Kompany called it "super dumb", and Olise misses Arsenal on Wednesday.

The answer came four days later: a goal and an assist against Leipzig. He has 5 Bundesliga goals.

At the same age: Thierry Henry won the 2001-02 Premier League Golden Boot at 24, with 24 goals, coming in from the left. Olise has that kind of output. The very best also stay on the pitch for the big nights.

Luis Díaz, Bayern Munich, 29

New in Tier 1 this week. A goal at Viking, then a hat-trick against Leipzig. Four goals in two games.

At the same age: Arjen Robben was 29 when he scored Bayern's winner in the 2013 Champions League final. A wide forward who became decisive in Munich in his late twenties.

Ousmane Dembélé, PSG, 29

He scored at the Etihad. Then at Strasbourg, off the bench, he missed a penalty and scored anyway as PSG came from behind to win 3-1. PSG are top of the Champions League table on goal difference, and part of a five-way tie on 14 points at the top of Ligue 1, the first time that has happened at this stage of a season.

He's the Ballon d'Or holder, and the 2026 ceremony is next Monday.

At the same age: Luís Figo won the Ballon d'Or at 28 and spent the next seasons proving it. This was a week of proving it.

Alexander Isak, Liverpool, 27

Back from a thigh problem, he scored the winner at Brentford in a 2-1 comeback. He's now scored in all five of his games against them, and has 5 Premier League goals, joint second. Liverpool are fifth, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong injured again.

At the same stage: Fernando Torres scored once in his first 18 games after his British-record move to Chelsea. Isak, in his second season at Liverpool, has five league goals by October.

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, 39

An assist on Wednesday in a 2-0 win that clinched Miami's place in the playoffs, then two goals at Atlanta on Saturday. He has 25 MLS goals, five clear of FC Dallas's Petar Musa, plus 15 assists, and 936 career goals.

At the same age: Zlatan Ibrahimović scored 30 MLS goals at 37. Messi has 25 at 39, with games still to play.

Nicolò Tresoldi, Club Brugge, 22

A hat-trick at San Siro in a 4-3 win over Inter, and four Champions League goals, level with Haaland. Andriy Shevchenko was 21 when he scored a hat-trick at the Camp Nou for Dynamo Kyiv in 1997. Nights like that make careers.

Bradley Barcola, Liverpool, 24

A hat-trick in the 6-3 win at LASK. His first goals for Liverpool, in his seventh game.

Antonio Raimondo, Frosinone, 22

On loan from Bologna: a hat-trick against Sassuolo and seven goals in seven Serie A games. He's the new top scorer in Italy.

Donyell Malen, Roma, 27

Two goals against Real Madrid, and Roma still lost. Six in Serie A, second behind Raimondo. Napoli away on Saturday.

Lautaro Martínez, Inter, 29

Two goals against Brugge in a defeat. Inter are top of Serie A on goal difference, level with Lazio.

Patrik Schick, Leverkusen

The winner against Freiburg, and six Bundesliga goals, joint top with Werder Bremen's Niclas Füllkrug.

Esteban Lepaul, Rennes

A hat-trick of penalties in a 4-3 defeat at Paris FC, the first in Ligue 1 since 1992. Seven goals, top of the chart.

Pedro Neto, Chelsea

Both goals in a 2-0 win at Everton, the first 43 seconds after half-time. His first Premier League brace.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr, 41

Career goal 981, in the Asian Champions League, in a game delayed by about an hour after a missile aimed at Riyadh was intercepted. His league game was postponed. Portugal's federation suspended him for 30 days for leaving the squad; he'll be available again in November. Romário claimed his thousandth goal at 41. Ronaldo is nineteen away.

Petar Musa, FC Dallas

A stoppage-time penalty at Houston: 20 MLS goals, a club record, and Dallas are in the playoffs.

Endrick, Real Madrid, 20

On at 59 minutes in Rome with Madrid 3-1 down. He set up Espí, headed the equaliser, and the club named him man of the match.

Yan Diomande, Real Madrid, 19

An assist and a goal from outside the box against Sevilla. He's the first Madrid player under 20 this century to score and assist in the same La Liga game, a mark Bellingham held before him.

Carlos Espí, Real Madrid, 21

Scored in Rome 13 minutes after coming on. Another big goal from the bench.

Alphadjo Cissé, AC Milan, 19

A hat-trick at Salzburg in the Europa League, the youngest Italian ever to score a hat-trick in European competition.

Johan Manzambi, Aston Villa, 21

Scored on his 21st birthday in the 6-0 win over Fenerbahçe, then got the winner at Newcastle.

Tuesday: PSG vs Barcelona, Liverpool vs Villarreal, Manchester City vs AEK. Wednesday: Bayern vs Arsenal (no Olise), Real Madrid vs Leipzig. Saturday: Aston Villa vs Manchester City, Napoli vs Roma. Sunday: Barcelona vs Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, Freiburg vs Bayern, PSG vs Lyon. Monday 26 October: the Ballon d'Or at the London Palladium, hosted by Thierry Henry and Kate Scott.

Endrick. He's fighting for minutes behind Mbappé, Vinícius, Diomande and Espí. He came on in Rome with his team two goals down, set one up, scored one, and Madrid won.

That's the whole idea. You don't choose when your number gets called. You choose whether you're ready.

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Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, and tell me who your striker of the week is.

This report is researched and produced by Etienne Noumen, Professional Engineer and passionate football dad from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Sources for every number in this post: UEFA, ManCity.com, realmadrid.com, PSG.fr, Al Jazeera, Sky Sports, NBC Sports, Yahoo Sports, VAVEL, FotMob, Football Italia, Ligue1.com, Goal.com and others, all current to 19 October 2026. The full source list is on the showupandplay.com version of this post.