Erling scored twice and had a hand in another goal for Jadon Sancho, as Dortmund beat Leipzig 3-1 on Saturday.
Erling scored 25 goals in 25 games
Julian Nagelsmann has backed Erling Haaland to get even better after his RB Leipzig squad were on the receiving end of a masterpiece from the BVB attacker. Erling scored twice and had a hand in another goal for Jadon Sancho, as Dortmund beat Leipzig 3-1 on Saturday. Nagelsmann’s side are missing the chance to take top spot in the Bundesliga from champions Bayern Munich. The double took Haaland’s Bundesliga total to 25 goals in 25 matches, of which only 20 have been starts. He received an impressive 34.3 per cent of his shots too. On Saturday, Dortmund opponents also took an interest in Haaland when he left Salzburg and coach Nagelsmann admitted that his last performance was a testament to why he was so sought after. The coach also pointed to the talent around Haaland in the team to explain why it is so challenging to deal with one of Europe’s standout stars.
Haaland is an exceptional striker
“We could have defended from Haaland, but not if the players around him had too much space in a one-against-four situation,” Nagelsmann said. “Of course he’s an exceptional striker – that’s why we wanted him too. Dortmund won the race. I think Erling just scored 25 goals in 25 Bundesliga games, something like that. It is truly extraordinary. Incredible statistics.” Haaland also scored twice against Leipzig at the end of last season. The Leipzig boss added: “This is not the first goal he has scored against us. He has some serious quality and is very young. So I think I can’t judge him as well as our opponent, but he certainly has some potential for development. He will get even better. And Bundesliga will have a lot of fun with him. Not the rivals, though.”
With several teams across Europe interested in Haaland, BVB CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke expressed his confidence this week that the striker will remain for at least one more season. Haaland has been contracted to stay on Dortmund’s books until 2024, but it has been reported that the deal, which is set to become active in summer 2022, included a €75 million release clause.