Harry Kane’s goal-scoring record in the Champions League has seen him put Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s early form in the competition to shame.

Kane’s love of the big stage continued on Tuesday as his two goals for Tottenham rescued their Champions League campaign.

The Spurs striker’s double earned a vital 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven in Group B, which kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages.

Harry Kane has enjoyed a flying start to his Champions League career
Harry Kane has enjoyed a flying start to his Champions League career (PA Graphics)

It also deepened his love of playing in the Champions League as he took his tally to 13 goals from 14 appearances.

That is an impressive start to his career in the elite European club competition – far better than the leading scorers in its history.

While Ronaldo plundered the goals for Real Madrid later in his career and remains the leading scorer in Champions League history, he actually got off to a slow start in the competition.

The Portuguese did not score until his 14th appearance and needed 49 to get to the 13-goal mark in his early Manchester United days.

He has gone on to score 103 goals in his next 106 appearances, which shows just what a phenomenon he has been in his later United and Madrid days.

Kane’s prolific start is also faster than Messi’s, who took 26 games to score 13 goals for Barcelona.

Former PSV and Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, fifth on the all-time list of goalscorers, is the closest to matching Kane’s tally, taking 18 games, while fourth-highest scorer Karim Benzema netted his 13th Champions League goal in his 22nd match.

Thierry Henry took 29 games to get there playing for Monaco and Arsenal, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic needed the same amount of appearances as Ronaldo.

Of some other current players, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski’s 13th Champions League goal came in his 21st outing while Sergio Aguero needed 29 matches to get reach that tally.