Paris (AFP)
The essential Erling Haaland carried Borussia Dortmund with a clinical double in Seville (3-2), Wednesday in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, relegating to the shadows an ineffective and beaten Cristiano Ronaldo with Juventus in Porto (2-1).
- Ronaldo stalls in Porto -
For his first visit to Portugal in the bianconero jersey, Ronaldo had dreamed of a better scenario.
But "Mr. Champions League", with his five titles (once with Manchester, four with Real) and his 134 goals in the competition, has passed through, like his team.
His Juventus was far too feverish to compete against the much more enterprising and inspired "Dragons" of Porto.
The "Old Lady", asleep, did not show much in attack and displayed astonishing defensive excitement.
After 63 seconds of play, Bentancur thus committed a suicidal receding pass for Szczesny on which Mehdi Taremi (2nd) threw himself.
The Iranian took the opportunity to score the fastest goal in the knockout stage since David Alaba with Bayern Munich, already against Juve but in the quarterfinals, in April 2013 after 24 seconds.
Rebelotte just after the break: the defense was overtaken by the Portuguese vivacity and Moussa Marega took advantage by scoring the goal of the break 21 seconds after the restart!
Federico Chiesa brought color back to the Turinese with a goal late in the game (82nd) on a cross from Adrien Rabiot, the French midfielder who had already distinguished himself on a nice kick well pushed back (41st).
The Italians, who lost their captain Giorgio Chiellini to injury in the 35th minute, retain all their chance to qualify for the return leg on March 9.
- Haaland double Seville -
Badly started in Seville, with a goal quickly conceded (7th), Dortmund recovered in the direction of travel with a superb long shot from Mahmoud Dahoud (18th), before making the difference by this devil of Haaland (27th, 43rd).
It was not Barça opposite, he did not manage the treble, but the 20-year-old Norwegian prodigy responded in his own way to the XXL performance of the nugget Kylian Mbappé, the day before at Camp Nou with Paris SG .
With eight goals in just five games, the former Salzburg striker leads the ranking of top scorers in the 2020-21 version.
The blonde giant (1.94m) offered a summary of his incredible talent with a double combining power, speed, finesse and coolness.
His first goal started with a furious ride and ended after a subtle stint with Sancho which allowed the Andalusian rearguard to pass through.
The second comes from a serve from Marcos Reus after a pattern of appeal on the right wing, ended with an impeccable strike from the left.
The Norwegian has maddened statistics in the Champions League: 18 goals in 13 games played in the prestigious European Cup, with the added bonus of at least one goal scored against the eight opponents encountered.
© 2021 AFP