Luis Suárez breaks into Europe's top scorers with nine goals in ten games

Nine goals in ten games. That's the number putting Luis Suárez among the biggest names in European soccer right as Sporting CP gets ready to host LASK in the UEFA Champions League.

The Colombian sits in the continent's top five scorers across all competitions, a list topped by Raphinha with 14 goals. Behind him come Erling Haaland with 12 and Kylian Mbappé with 11. Right there in fourth place is Suárez with his nine goals, tied with Vangelis Pavlidis. Sharing that list with those names is no small thing for a forward who came to Portugal to keep writing his story.

In the Portuguese league, Suárez is the second-highest scorer with seven goals, and in the Champions League he has two, a tally that places him among the tournament's top-tier attackers. The most recent of those European goals came the previous week, in the second matchday of the league phase, when he opened the scoring against Lens in France to seal a 2-0 win.

That goal carried extra weight: with it, Suárez became Sporting's all-time leading scorer in the Champions League, reaching seven goals in the club's colors in the competition. A mark the player himself didn't let slide by unnoticed.

For any player it's a joy, especially when you achieve it at a great club like this one, in the UEFA Champions League and in the league. It's an honor for me to go down in this club's history. It fills me with pride, both me and my family.Luis Suárez

Riding that confidence, the forward heads into the match against LASK, set for Wednesday, October 21 in Lisbon at 2:00 p.m. Colombia time. Sporting will look to keep picking up points in this Champions League league phase, and Suárez has every chance to keep padding his own record as the club's most prolific scorer in the tournament's recent history.

Can he keep climbing that list of Europe's top scorers? Given the pace he's on, nothing suggests he's about to slow down.