Berlin (AFP) – One of world football’s fastest-rising young stars goes head-to-head with one of its most accomplished goalscorers on Tuesday as Erling Braut Haaland and Robert Lewandowski face off for the first time.
Borussia Dortmund host Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich in a top-of-the-table clash which will see 19-year-old Haaland and the man 12 years his senior both try to maintain remarkable runs of form.
Both players have scored exactly 41 goals in 35 matches in all competitions this season, although Haaland only joined Dortmund in January from Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg.
Bayern coach Hansi Flick, whose side are four points clear of Dortmund, believes close comparisons between the two are premature, but acknowledged Haaland’s obvious ability.
“Haaland is in his first season… Robert has been evolving for several years at the top level,” he said. “But Haaland has huge talent.”
Before the Champions League was suspended in March due to the coronavirus, Haaland was second only to Lewandowski in the competition’s goalscoring charts, one behind the Pole’s tally of 11.
Lewandowski’s haul included four goals in just 14 second-half minutes during a 6-0 group-stage rout of Red Star Belgrade last November, bringing back memories of his astonishing five goals in nine minutes against Wolfsburg in 2015.
Haaland scored eight goals for Salzburg in the group stage and two for Dortmund in their last-16 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
Lewandowski has netted 27 goals in 25 Bundesliga matches and is on track to be crowned the league’s top-scorer for the fifth time in 10 seasons.
Haaland has netted 10 league goals in as many games but his ratio — a goal every 69 minutes — is even better than Lewandowski’s 82 minutes.
– Discreet off the pitch –
Both Haaland and Lewandowski are discreet about their lives off the pitch and appear happier to let their goalscoring feats speak for themselves.
“He’s one of those guys who’s really into training,” Dortmund defender Mats Hummels said of Haaland, who has a habit of giving short answers in interviews.
“I like the way he approaches work at his age,” Hummels added.
Lewandowski is known for preferring to spend time in the gym rather than on the red carpet.
“In his head, he thinks about the right food, sleep and training: 24 hours a day,” former Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.
“He is always there, never injured, because he focuses on these things.”
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/3c1MJjw
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