The Norwegian youngster was back to his lethal best to steer Dortmund to a crucial victory over Nagelsmann’s Leipzig side on Saturday.
RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann reckons Erling Haaland already has ‘some serious quality’ and warned Bundesliga clubs that the Borussia Dortmund striker can get even better than he already is.
A second-half masterclass saw Haaland grab two vital goals to seal Dortmund a 3-1 win in Leipzig after Jadon Sancho’s opener. The three points have moved the club to within five points of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich in fourth.
Haaland, meanwhile, has taken his account for the season up to 12 goals in only 10 league games. Only Robert Lewandowski has bettered his tally, having scored a league-best of 20 goals for Bayern so far.
“Erling we could have defended, but not if the players around him have too much space in a one-against-four situation,” said Nagelsmann as quoted on Diario AS.
“Of course, he is an exceptional striker – this is why we wanted him, too. Dortmund got him.
“I think he just scored 25 goals in 25 Bundesliga games, something like that. This is truly extraordinary. Unbelievable stats.”
Nagelsmann was spot on with Haaland’s stats, with the 19-year-old having scored 25 goals in exactly 25 league games for Dortmund since his €20m arrival from RB Salzburg in January 2020.
BIG. WIN. 🙌🏻👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/GotRwmDpHb
— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) January 9, 2021
The former Molde star also seems to relish taking on Leipzig, something which isn’t lost on Nagelsmann either.
The German added: “This is not the first goal he 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 for sure has some potential to develop. He will get even better.
“And the league will have a lot of joy with him. Not the opponents, though.”
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