Erling Haaland, 20, is beginning to feel the pressure of being permanently in the spotlight. The first obstacles begin to appear in his effervescent career and Haaland discharges the tension. The last episode was lived on Wednesday in Gibraltar, in Norway's first meeting in the current national team break. The goal resisted him in the opening of the World Cup qualification and his coach, with 0-3 in favor, decided to replace it midway through the second half, thinking about the following commitments.
A change that did not sit well with the forward, who left with a dissatisfied gesture. The Norwegian press reported that at halftime the coach, Stale Solbakken, spoke with him and Sorloth to propose the change. None wanted to leave the field and after a quarter of an hour into the second half it was decided to remove Dortmund.
The media in his country detach his anger from the substitution, but lately they see him as angry. Last Saturday, in the last Dortmund game before the break, he left another sign of the discomfort that the player seems to have. After the match against Colonia (2-2), in which he scored both goals for his team, Haaland threw his shirt badly at the Spanish Jorge Meré, who had asked for it. “His desire to win is what makes him so special. He shows it to us every day and, to the rest, once or twice a week”, justified his coach, Edin Terzic.
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It is in that ambition that the problem may lie. Despite Dortmund reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in four seasons, things are not going quite well in the Bundesliga. The yellow team is out of the Champions zone, four points behind Jovic's Eintracht in the absence of eight days before the end of the championship.
A final stretch of the season in which Dortmund is risking its presence in the highest continental competition and the opportunity to continue offering Haaland to appear on the most important stage of club football. An absence that, if consummated, can precipitate the farewell of the Norwegian pearl to the Rhenish team.
Bundesliga top scorer, unattainable for Haaland
Not only Dortmund miss the train of the next Champions League. Haaland has no chance of being the top scorer in the Bundesliga. Despite his impressive average (21 goals in 21 games), the defense that Lewandowski making his FIFA The Best award for the best player in the world in 2020 is overwhelming. The 32-year-old Pole has scored 35 goals in 25 games. Revalidating The Best will depend on the jury, but the Bayern striker is going for his first Golden Boot.