Mbappé-Haaland, face to face

Alfredo Di Stéfano said that “A football match without goals is like a Sunday without sun” and in the art of lighting matches, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé are consummate specialists. The old expression of JASPYoung but well prepared, she is taken to very high levels by the Norwegian and the French. 20 years for Dortmund (he was born on July 21, 2000) and 22 for PSG (December 20, 1998), the many years of career that lie ahead point to parallel and there is no better yardstick for success than the Champions League.

If some clueless have not paid attention to the last season, Seeing a quarter-final of the highest continental competition without Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi will be chimerical. But in eighths we attended a sorpasso who crowned Haaland and Mbappé as heirs to the throne that he has held for so many years. Four goals each, the one born in Leeds to Sevilla and Bondy to Barcelona, ​​with a tremendous hat-trick at the Camp Nou without Neymar that sounded like a fist on the table. Real Madrid wants them to write their personal history together and under the same shield, but for now they walk separately.

In the first leg of the quarterfinals, the first did not get wet against City, but he assisted Reus in only both of his team (2-1). While the second continued with the cape on and with his double he conquered the Allianz (2-3), this time yes, from the hand of Ney. Thus, Mbappé took a bite out of the distance with which Haaland led the Champions League scorers table and got eight, for the ten of the still leader. We will see if in the round it responds to the Erling pulse, as it did in the previous round. “I was inspired by Mbappé's three goals at the Camp Nou”He said after dismantling Sevilla.

Face to face

And because of such parallelism, UEFA has drawn up a comparison in which it puts numbers and dates on this race against history and precociousness. In that last game, with his double against Lopetegui and his team, Haaland reached 20 goals in the Champions League, becoming the highest scorer in history before he turned 21. The second? Of course, a Mbappé who stayed at 19. In the return to City he has the opportunity to continue increasing the income, as a blow in the form of a comeback is a difficult adventure if Erling does not put on the cape. Messi stayed at 8, while Cristiano, with a later scoring explosion, did not see the goal until 22.

Mbappé records

With Haaland on his heels, the PSG player still has several records under his belt, although some of them are in (a lot) of danger. He debuted in the Champions League in a Monaco-Leverkusen (1-1), with 17 years and 282 days and would score his first goal shortly after, in a City-Monaco (5-3). That February 21, 2017, at 18 years and 63 days, he would debut a scoring account that shot up in the principality in that remembered Monegasque team of 2017.

PSG was ahead of Madrid and there they have achieved number 10 (with 18 years and 350 days) and number 20 (21 years and 355 days). All this to reach 27 goals, accompanied by 17 assists, in 43 games. A) Yes. he is still the earliest to reach ten and the second Frenchman, behind Benzema, to see the goal. A Benzema that also surpasses him in terms of goals in the final phase of the Champions League (19 to 13), but the age difference between the two adventure that will smash the records of the Lion.

Haaland Records

Nevertheless, Haaland has come as a scoring hurricane since he heard the Champions League anthem for the first time on September 17, 2019. And it is that, that day, with 19 years and 58 days, it was already wet and on top of that it was triple. A hat-trick, the youngest to do one, which condemned Genk (6-2) when he was still at Salzburg. In the energetic ones it did not last long and with Borussia Dortmund he has continued in a hurry and without pause drilling networks. A) Yes, reached 10 with 19 years and 212 days, curiously against Mbappé's PSG.

The twentieth we already said that he fell against Sevilla and At the moment he accumulates 20 goals, and three assists, in just 15 games, a real madness. His list of merits begins with being the first teenager to score in his first five appearances in the top continental competition (Benzema did it in three). In addition to being the fastest (12 games) and youngest (20 years and 99 days) to reach both 15 goals and 20 (in 14 encounters). This latest achievement puts him ahead of Harry Kane, who scored his first 20 in 24 games.. Just as he has already managed to be the top Norwegian scorer in the history of the competition, ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskajer. Although the now United manager achieved his 19 goals in 77 games. With all this statistical compendium, It is understood that the greats of Europe dream of getting at least one of the two. Real Madrid, as we say, draws its future with both. As soon as the summer window opens, the shooting will begin. Time will tell who wins the war.