Dortmund’s respect for Erling Haaland’s elemental force is as great as the joy of seeing them again: “It’s definitely a special encounter,” said sports director Sebastian Kehl before the Champions League game at Haaland’s new club Manchester City. “Erling is in fantastic form”, but “it’s not just about him”.
Haaland, who moved from Salzburg to Dortmund, scored 86 goals in 89 competitive games for the Germans in two and a half years before moving to Manchester in the summer and already holding twelve goals after the first eight games for England’s champions. In the Champions League, the 22-year-old Norwegian has scored 25 times in 20 appearances – no one in the history of the competition has reached that mark faster or younger. “The numbers speak for themselves. I love this new routine of talking about Erling and his goals,” said his coach Pep Guardiola. “And you get the feeling that he could always score more goals.”
Dortmund takes on the outsider role. “Manchester are a very strong team overall, favorites in the group, possibly favorites in the Champions League,” said Kehl. “But why shouldn’t we surprise them?” For this, Borussia Haaland has to get a grip.
Austrian duel in Madrid
Leipzig has an equally difficult away task today at defending champions Real Madrid with David Alaba. At Leipzig, Konrad Laimer will be out for weeks due to an injury to the syndesmosis ligament in his left ankle. Xaver Schlager is looking forward to the Austrian duel: “We’re going there with a big smile.” At least the self-confidence returned with the 3-0 win against Dortmund on coach Marco Rose’s debut.
Source: Nachrichten
