Erling Haaland will surely have been watching on as Kylian Mbappe announced himself as a pretender to Lionel Messi’s throne on Tuesday evening.
The Frenchman’s hat-trick against Barcelona at Camp Nou had led to talk of a changing of the guard; to suggestions that he will be the one to succeed Messi as the best player in the world.
But it seems Haaland took great offence to such a discussion unfolding in his absence, and so aimed his frustration at Sevilla 24 hours later.
Sevilla 2-3 Dortmund: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats
Borussia Dortmund did not get off to a great start, with Suso giving the hosts the lead after just seven minutes via a deflected effort from the edge of the box.
But just 12 minutes after that, some classic centre-forward hold-up play from Haaland allowed him to cut inside and feed Mahmoud Dahoud.
The midfielder subsequently curled a brilliant effort into the top corner from distance to swing the momentum in Dortmund’s favour, and neither player or team looked back from there.
⚽ ⏱️ 27′ Fresh from laying on a goal, Haaland quickly exchanged passes with Jadon Sancho before beating the on-rushing goalkeeper to the chipped return ball to make it 2-1.
⚽ ⏱️ 43′ And he had his third goal involvement of the night just moments before half-time, finishing off a Marco Reus-led counter by opening his body to smash the ball into the far corner.
The forward’s influence waned somewhat in the second half, with a triple substitution for Sevilla turning the game in their favour and leading to Luuk de Jong reducing the deficit late on.
But there was little to criticise about his performance on an individual level, which was a perfect reminder of just how big a talent we are watching grow.
IMPROVEMENT
Haaland got his customary goal – a late equaliser – and a 7.6 FC Rating in a frustrating 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim at the weekend. He was even better here, though, with his two goals and and an assist earning him a 9.3 FC Rating.
🗝️ Key Stats
| Statistic |
Value |
| FC Rating |
9.3 |
| Mins Played |
90 |
| Goals |
2 |
| Assists |
1 |
| Shots |
3 |
| Shots on Target |
3 |
| Touches in the box |
4 |
Haaland’s performance against Sevilla was so impressive that it should perhaps force a rethink on whether he, not Mbappe, might actually be Messi’s successor.
Both players now have 18 goals in the Champions League but, incredibly, Haaland’s have come in just 13 games in comparison to Mbappe’s 41.
The Norwegian is also two years younger and, his 41 goals from just 42 appearances for Dortmund have come in a more testing domestic setting than his counterpart’s 111 in 153 outings in PSG-dominated France.
Given their tender years, expect the debate over which of the pair is better to rumble on for the next decade at least.
Perhaps we do not just have a successor to Messi but also to Cristiano Ronaldo, the main to whom he was constantly compared.
Sevilla 2-3 Dortmund: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats
