Bundesliga
Haaland: "Nothing compares to scoring in front of the Yellow Wall"
Erling Haaland has scored debut hat-tricks in the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League; he has done the business at Liverpool’s Anfield Road; and once helped himself to nine goals in one game at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup - but the Norwegian teenager says nothing compares to hitting the back of the net in front of Borussia Dortmund's world-famous Yellow Wall at the Signal Iduna Park.
Haaland, 19, took his tally to seven goals in three Bundesliga games with a brace on his first start in the 5-0 win over Union Berlin on Saturday. Four have fallen on Dortmund soil.
"It’s absolutely fantastic," Haaland enthused when quizzed on how it feels to score in front of the largest standing terrace in Europe. "It’s just a fantastic feeling that I haven’t had before."
Haaland hit the ground running at Dortmund with a 23-minute hat-trick from the bench in a 5-3 win against Augsburg. He took just 12 minutes to add another couple of goals to his haul on his home debut in the 5-0 rout of Cologne, and was celebrating another double before making way to a chorus of "Erling!" chants in the 76th minute of the Matchday 20 drubbing of Union.
Suffice to say Haaland earned it. His seven Bundesliga strikes are the product of just 136 minutes on the pitch. In other words, he is averaging a goal every 19.4 minutes. No player in Bundesliga history has scored with such eye-watering regularity in their first three German top-flight appearances.
The former Red Bull Salzburg forward also won the penalty which Marco Reus converted for 3-0 against Union. Although not quite a traditional assist, he has nevertheless had a direct hand in eight of the 15 goals Dortmund have scored since the turn of the year. Only three other teams have managed to score at least five times in three successive Bundesliga matches.
"My teammates are so good," Haaland said, quick to deflect attention away from his blistering start in a Dortmund shirt. "It’s getting easier for me. I didn’t think about scoring so many goals, but now it’s seven and I’m enjoying it. I’m just trying to enjoy my life, and do what I do. There’s a lot more to come."
Watch: Jadon Sancho talks up Haaland, Haaland talks up Sancho
Haaland will have the opportunity to continue his hot streak when Dortmund travel to struggling Werder Bremen in the DFB Cup third round on Tuesday.
It remains to be seen whether the Norway international starts, but that’s proving to be academic. An appearance of any kind has a habit of ending in goals.