The Norwegian has been captivated by the Champions League since he was an infant and is now close to achieving his dream of winning the Champions League by winning it
In the wake of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both leaving European football, there’s an opening at the Champions League stage. Fortunately for all of us who are at UEFA, Erling Haaland has already filled that gap.
The Portuguese and the Argentine have been the defining factors in Europe’s contest for more than 15 years. Along with winning the trophy nine times and scoring 269 goals, they’ve also been the most dominant force in the tournament two insatiable winners who enjoyed playing on the biggest stage in Europe.
However, Haaland is also awestruck by the desire to be a star in front of the world. He has talked extensively about his love of the game and has demonstrated his passion in various ways, like setting the national anthem to the ringtone of his mobile phone.
Haaland adores Haaland loves the Champions League and he sure is a fan of his. Some of his finest performances have occurred on European nights, with RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City.
On Saturday, at Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. Ataturk Olympic Stadium located in Istanbul, he will take part in his very first championship aged 22. It’s unlikely to become his final, and should he continue to score at the current pace in scoring goals, he might perhaps even beat Ronaldo or Messi as the top-scoring player and the biggest star.
From his early fascination with music to playing the national anthem while driving
Many footballers speak about getting the Champions League as a dream to be realized however for Erling Haaland, it was not an actual dream but an aim which he set out towards. You could call it an obsession.
“I have been dreaming and thinking of it my whole life. It has been my dream as long as I can remember, so a long time,” the reporter told reporters in the week prior to the last.
Haaland’s love affair with the competition began at age seven when the debut Champions League final in 2008 was in the final with Manchester United and Chelsea. While Manchester United were dancing during the Moscow rain after a win over Chelsea with a penalty shootout teen Norwegian who was watching the game on television in his hometown of Bryne was keen to be a part of the fun.
“When I saw the celebrations I wanted to do that as well. I am getting closer and closer,” He added.
Haaland’s passion for Haaland’s love of the Champions League continued into adulthood and while he was playing for RB Salzburg he was filmed driving through the Austrian city, with the national anthem playing through his stereo.
Haaland was interviewed about his music choice for his car during the lead-up to the finale. “I’ll say it again, I love this competition and I like it and I enjoy it. That’s why,” Haaland said. “And it’s also a really nice song.”
A hat trick in the first day of his Champions League debut
Haaland was a shrewd player during his first encounter with European football He scored four goals in the five Europa League qualifiers with Norwegian club Molde which was his second club.
The next move to Salzburg was a chance for him to take part in the tournament he had always wanted to play. His debut couldn’t have been better. He scored his first goal in seconds of the first minute in the match. Champions League debut against Genk and, by half-time, he had added a hat-trick in the stunning 6-2 win.
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The second match of the tournament was a dream visit to Anfield and he was also to the goal by completing the most impressive fightback of Jesse Marsch’s team. They went from 3-0 down to even things out and only to allow Mohamed Salah to find a late winner to make it 4-3.
Haaland continued to score during his subsequent two Champions League matches, home and away against Napoli as well as scoring against Genk. The only game in which he failed to score in his group phase was his final home match against Liverpool which his team was defeated 2-0 and relegated from the competition.
The stage is empty in stadiums
Haaland was already outgrowing Salzburg Haaland had already outgrown Salzburg Borussia Dortmund pounced, beating Manchester United to his signature in January 2020. The first time he played for Borussia Dortmund’s German team playing in the Champions League was against Paris Saint-Germain and the team was not disappointed with two goals, and he celebrated by meditating.
The incident seemed to provoke Neymar as well as Kylian Mbappe. The PSG players mirrored the celebrations when they beat Dortmund 2-0 in the second leg, which was empty to take Dortmund out.
Haaland continued to play where he stopped the season before however, scoring six times in Dortmund’s initial four games in the group stage before suffering a muscle strain. He returned for the final-16 and recouped any time lost by scoring twice in each of the games against Sevilla. Even in stadiums with no seats in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, Haaland was taking center the stage.
Dortmund was joined by City for the final quarterfinal at the beginning of what would later become a common scene, Haaland scored at the Etihad Stadium. However, he couldn’t stop Dortmund from losing the first as well as the second game to Guardiola’s team.
The previous season Haaland was afflicted with a number of injuries. He was unable to participate in three games of the Champions League. He was able to score a goal on average every game, scoring to Besiktas and scoring two goals in a 5-0 win against the Turkish team in Dortmund.
At that point, Dortmund had been eliminated from the group stage. the possibility that Haaland was not present during half of their games is definitely not an accident.
Goals every 50 minutes and five goals in a game
Haaland continued his fascination in Haaland continued his look-alike relationship with the Champions League in his first European appearance for City and scored twice to beat Sevilla by a score of 4-0. In the end, as fate would have it Haaland’s first European game with the club he joined was against his previous club.
It was also against Dortmund where He got one of the greatest goals, an incredibly Kung-Fu-like volley that won the game with a score of 2-1.
Haaland scored two more times against Copenhagen before suffering a calf injury on his team, but he won the group stage with five goals, despite playing 250 minutes of football with a goal per 50 minutes.
In the knockout phase, the player achieved Champions League history against RB Leipzig, becoming the first player to score five goals in a knockout game in the history of knockout matches since Lionel Messi for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012. Haaland could have possibly been able to break the record if he had not been removed at the last minute.
It was the Norwegian scoring in every game in City’s quarter-final match against Bayern Munich, also not scoring a penalty in the game against Bayern Munich. The only thing that was disappointing about the season for City was that he failed to score in either of the games in the match against Real Madrid. However, when City taking the lead in their second game 4-0, in one of the greatest performances of the Champions League semi-final, it did not matter.
There is no doubt that Guardiola has faith in him.
Although City was able to reach the Champions League final in 2021 without Haaland Haaland’s Norwegian was definitely the last piece in the puzzle and has made them more powerful. In fact in the 2021 final, when City was playing Chelsea in the final of 2021 in Porto the team lined up without a striker, and Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus only appeared on the bench at the end of the match.
As City are preparing to face Inter Haaland will be their primary weapon. Then Guardiola was not willing to address questions on the eve of the game about the fact that his striker is struggling to score goals in the last couple of games.
“I’m not here to discuss the average for Haaland scoring goals. If you have doubts about that you are a lonely person,” Guardiola told reporters. “I don’t have doubts, tomorrow he will be ready to help us win the Champions League.”
The final line was a powerful one the coach was highlighting the importance of Haaland’s contribution to the City’s efforts to take home the only trophy they’re lacking.
He is lifting the trophy over his head
Haaland has not hid from that fact, and he remarked about it prior to the final, while speaking to journalists at the media day.
“Take an example, the Premier League, they won it two times in a row before I came here. So they know how to win the Premier League,” said the man. “The only thing they miss now is the Champions League, you can think and read between the words, and the lines, I have been coming here for a reason.”
For certain players, the pressure of attempting to win City the trophy that’s escaped their grasps could be a huge burden. Haaland acknowledged that he felt a sense of some responsibility. However, he does not take it too seriously.
“Of course, I feel pressure. I’d be lying to say I didn’t. You can say it yourself, and it’s true. They took home the Premier League without me, they have won every trophy without me. This is why I’m here to accomplish something that the club has never attempted before, and I’ll try everything I can to succeed,” he said.
The Norwegian is already lifting the huge trophy in his head “Of course I have been thinking of this,” He stated.
If asked what it means the man replied: “It would mean everything, of course.”
