Dortmund (Germany) (AFP)

"Haaland will mark its time!"

Mouth open with admiration, as Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui, Europe is witnessing match after match to the advent of a football titan, who can one day claim to join Messi or Ronaldo in legend as well as in the charts. .

In the round of 16 of the Champions League, Erling Haaland has just eliminated Seville almost on his own, with a double in the first leg and another in the return (3-2, 2-2).

And while Cristiano Ronaldo (36) left the Champions League on Tuesday with a pitiful elimination with Juventus, the 20-year-old Norwegian colossus tumbles to take the place and open a new chapter in football history.

Since Tuesday evening, the list of his records has been looping on specialized sites.

- First player under 20 to score in his first five C1 matches (with Salzburg in 2019)

- Youngest player to have scored 20 goals in C1

- First player to reach 20 goals in C1 in only 14 matches

- First player to achieve four consecutive doubles in C1, current series ...

... and other fabulous feats of arms, like his hat-trick at 19 against Genk, which made him the third youngest player to achieve this feat in C1, after Raul and Wayne Rooney.

Or his double last year in the round of 16 against Paris SG, for his first match in the final phase of the Champions League.

Not to mention his Bundesliga records.

- "Haaland and Farewell!"

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In the queen competition, he dominates the scorers standings with ten goals scored in ... six matches, since he missed two group stage matches.

"At the start of their careers, even football giants Messi and Ronaldo could only have dreamed of such statistics," German daily FAZ noted on Wednesday.

"FenomenHaaland", exclaims Gazzeta dello sport in Italy: "(He) can become one of those strikers who make football history. In fact, he has already started."

The daily recalls that Ronaldo put 56 matches to reach 20 goals, Messi 40 matches.

"Haaland and farewell", sums up in a phrase that risks being used again, Estadio Deportivo, Andalusia's main sports newspaper, which adds: "Seville fell with honor (...) against a rival carried by the power of the + Beast + ".

Especially since Haaland is not only a goalscorer.

We also see him fighting tooth and nail to retrieve balloons, even in his own surface, and harangue his partners.

His thirst for victory, driven by impressive drive and warrior body language, makes him a natural leader that will benefit all of his teams in the future.

- "A matter of state" -

It is difficult to imagine such a prodigy staying for a long time in Dortmund.

At Real Madrid, getting hold of Haaland has even become a priority, according to the sports daily As: "Until now, he wrote at the beginning of the week, the recruitment of Haaland was an obligation, especially with the difficulty of getting Mbappé to come this summer, now it has become a matter of state. Real Madrid do not want, under any circumstances, to slip from their hands the striker who will undoubtedly dominate the football of the next decade".

Manchester City and Chelsea are also cited among interested clubs.

In December 2020, Erling Haaland received the "Golden Boy" award from the Italian sports daily Tuttosport, recognizing the best under-21 player playing in Europe.

He has now moved into the big class, and it is not unrealistic to think that he will apply for the Ballon d'Or very quickly.

From this year if he carried Dortmund very far in the Champions League.

pve-alu-ama-cpb / jed / dep / av

© 2021 AFP