Erling Haaland was more than happy to add to the Messi v Ronaldo vibes as he claimed that Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick against Barcelona inspired his double against Sevilla on Wednesday night.
The Norwegian made it 25 goals for the season for Dortmund – and 41 in 42 games overall for the German club – with two goals in the Champions League last-16 tie.
Haaland has now scored 18 goals in 13 Champions League matches and is still only 20 years old.
“When I saw Mbappe score the hat trick, I got free motivation, so thanks to him,” Haaland said after the match. “He scored some nice goals and I got a free boost from him, so it was nice.”
There is clearly already a rivalry between the pair, though it seems likely that both will end up at Real Madrid, with Haaland saying “it’s nice to be wanted” when asked about interest from the Spanish club.
Manchester United are still said to be interested in Haaland but it seems highly unlikely that the Leeds fan will choose the Old Trafford club over Madrid.
Meanwhile, Mbappe’s asking price this summer is £174m and that is said to be not off-putting for Liverpool, Real, Manchester City or Juventus (if they sell Ronaldo) but any other scenario but him joining Real for free next summer looks unlikely.
“It was not good to let in two goals, but it is good to score three away goals and take them with us.”
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