When Hugo Sánchez hit 38 goals for Real Madrid – all with his first touch

Erling Haaland’s emphatic header against Everton was his 36th goal in the league this season, the highest in the top flight since Southampton striker Ron Davies scored 37 in 1966-67. With a contract until 2027, he could become the first player to win the golden boot in England for four straight seasons. A few players have managed this feat in the big European leagues: Jean-Pierre Papin (1988-1992) and, Carlos Bianchi (1976-1979) in France, Robert Lewandowski in Germany (2018-2022), Lionel Messi (2017-2021) and Hugo Sánchez in Spain (1984–88).

Sánchez won the Pichichi for Atlético Madrid in 1984–85 before moving to Real Madrid and winning it in each of the next three seasons. His most eye-catching achievement, however, came in the 1989-90 season when he claimed his fifth Pichichi in six years. Not only did he match Telmo Zarra’s record of 38 league goals – which was set in 1950-51 and was only surpassed 60 years later when Cristiano Ronaldo scored 40 in a season – but he scored all 38 of his goals with one-touch finishes. By comparison, 86% of Haaland’s 36 goals have come from one-touch finishes, including seven penalties. Of the previous six golden boot winners, only Mo Salah in 2018-19 has come close to that level of efficiency, with 73%.

Sánchez was suspended for three of the 38 league matches so, like Haaland is doing, he scored more than a goal a game. Even though they were all one-touch goals, Sánchez exhibited a wide range, from the prosaic to the poetic in their execution. Although a fair share came in the classic goal poachers’ territory, he was also fond of the spectacular and in particular his trademark overhead kick – or chilena.

In April 1988 against Logroñes he scored perhaps his most celebrated goal, an