Phenomenal Haaland outshines PSG superstars
The two priciest players in the world were not able to outshine the prolific Erling Braut Haaland as the Norwegian sensation continued his exceptional rise by scoring both goals in Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 defeat of Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
When Kylian Mbappe teed up Neymar to cancel out Haaland's opener in the next half of their Champions League last 16, initially leg at the Signal Iduna Park, it appeared as if PSG would leave Germany with the upper submit the tie.
But then, in the 77th minute, Haaland latched onto a pass from alternative Giovanni Reyna and sent a thumping left-ft . shot rising high in to the net from the border of the penalty spot to give Dortmund the benefit heading into the come back leg in Paris on March 11.
Maybe PSG's 402 million-euro ($434 million) attacking duo will even now make the difference in the come back, and present the French club a location in the quarter-finals for the very first time in four years.
But Dortmund deserved their victory on the night in a tie which simply really began to surpass its billing in the second half, coming to existence when Haaland pounced to score the opening goal from close spectrum on 69 moments after Thiago Silva blocked a Raphael Guerreiro shot.
If that was a typical poacher's end, the winning target was a demonstration of sheer brute force from the 1.94m tall, 19-year-old who now has 10 goals in seven Champions League video games this season.
"Personally i think like I still can execute a lot better. I must play better as of this level, have to work hard to improve," Haaland informed UEFA.com after appearing named guy of the match.
"The result is quite a dangerous one, as Paris has a very strong workforce and can still proceed through in the come back leg."
On the other hand, Dortmund players were packed with praise because of their team-mate, who found prominence by scoring nine moments for Norway in a single game at last year's Under-20 Universe Cup.
"He still has enormous room for improvement but he's on the road to becoming a truly great player," Axel Witsel told French broadcaster RMC Sport.
Emre May told BT Sport: "Of course he's a great footballer. He's also a great guy. He's a little bit crazy I believe, funny and hopefully he'll continue like this."
Haaland's eight goals found in the group stage weren't plenty of for Salzburg to qualify for the last 16, but they helped him earn his 20 million-euro proceed to Dortmund in the wintertime window.
Jaw-dropping
Immediately after 28 goals in 22 games entirely for Salzburg, that payment already appeared as if a bargain, but his statistics have been a lot more jaw-dropping since he became part of Lucien Favre's side.
Scorer of a good hat-technique off the bench against Augsburg on his debut, the Leeds-born player now has 11 goals in only seven outings for his new club.
It is a phenomenal record, and his occurrence -- along with that of Jadon Sancho -- helped persuade PSG trainer Thomas Tuchel to abandon the 4-4-2 development he previously settled on in recent months to be able to play with 3 central defenders.
Haaland still managed to be the celebrity of the show despite coming directly up against Silva, Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe. At the different end, Neymar and Mbappe had been kept quiet for the majority of the night, as was Angel Di Maria.
For 21-year-outdated Mbappe, the risk should be that Haaland is threatening to make him yesterday's news.
Mbappe's tally of 19 goals in the Champions League is an archive for a new player before his 21st birthday.
Haaland has already been into double statistics and will not end up being 21 until July next year. Mbappe was seven weeks younger than Haaland is now when he managed to get to double figures, however the latter's current strike amount is frightening.
PSG must look for a way to hold him quiet found in the return leg if the Qatar-owned club are to avoid just one more deeply disappointing exit within the last 16.
