In somewhat terrifying news, Borussia Dortmund’s star striker, Erling Haaland, believes he can be even better against Paris Saint-Germain in the return leg between the two sides in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
It was Haaland’s brace that was ultimately the difference last month when Dortmund defeated PSG 2-1 and took the early advantage in the tie.
In an interview with France Football, Haaland was asked about his performance against the Ligue 1 leaders and was pretty critical.
“Yes, OK, I scored two goals, but I also made a lot of mistakes during this match. So, let’s say it could have been much better than that.”
No player is ever perfect but Haaland was pretty close to it against PSG. Thiago Silva afforded the 19-year-old too much space and back-peddled whenever the 19-year-old ran at him. PSG’s other defenders didn’t fare too much better either, which is why Marco Verratti had to drop back and make goal-saving challenges instead of going forward.
WhoScored.com rated Haaland an 8.6 out of 10 and if he improves on that and limits the mistakes he thinks he made in the first match, well, PSG could be looking at a fourth consecutive exit in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.
Haaland was also asked by France Football about PSG’s superstar, Kylian Mbappé, who didn’t score in the first matchup but did all of the hard work to set up an easy tap-in for Neymar Jr.
“He’s [Kylian Mbappé] a fantastic player. It was the first time I played against him in the first leg. He has so much talent, and even more. He is an extraordinary player. Everything he did at his age and when you look at his record, it’s completely crazy. He’s a great player.”
It will be an entertaining duel between two of the brightest young talents in the game on Wednesday, but hopefully, it will be Mbappé who has the breakout performance this time.
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