“I always said that the Ballon d’Or had to be two sections: one for [Lionel] Messi and one for the others,” said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
After a year in which he finally hoisted the hitherto unattainable World Cup trophy, Messi is unquestionably the frontrunner. The small Argentine is hoping to add an eighth prize to his collection, and there are few possibilities who can stop him.
Erling Haaland, on the other hand, is one of those capable of stopping the former Barcelona star.
The Norwegian colossus had a record-breaking maiden season in Manchester, concluding with a slew of individual and collective trophies. Haaland crushed Premier League and European defenses, putting up Messi-like figures that drove City to legendary treble-winning glory.
It won’t be easy to dethrone Messi this year, given that this is likely the 36-year-old’s final chance at another Ballon d’Or, but there will be no complaints if Haaland succeeds in unseating the Inter Miami striker on October 30.
Erling Haaland’s goal contributions
Last season, those Haaland skeptics who projected a slow, Timo Werner-style start to the former Borussia Dortmund striker’s Premier League career were thoroughly humiliated.
After being dismissed by some elements of the social media community following a bad Community Shield performance, the 6’4 centre-forward wasted no time in making fun of his detractors.
Haaland scored 15 goals in his first ten Premier League games, including three hat-tricks, and five in his first three Champions League games.
While the 23-year-old did slow down towards the conclusion of the season by his exceedingly lofty standards, he finished the season with an incredible 52 goals in 53 outings for City.
36 of these came in just 35 league matches, shattering Mohamed Salah’s previous record of most goals in a 38-game Premier League season. When you add in nine assists for teammates, that’s a total of 61 goal contributions – an average of 1.17 per appearance.
While Messi did provide 41 goals in as many games for Paris Saint-Germain last season, Ligue 1’s competition pales in contrast to that of the Premier League.
Erling Haaland’s trophy cabinet
Guardiola has probably turned this Manchester City club into the best in English football history, but the Spaniard needs a Champions League victory to back it up. He finally accomplished what he was recruited to the Etihad to do after years of heartbreaking exits.
Guardiola has long been accused of being unable to win the Champions League without Messi, but Haaland, among others, helped disprove that belief when City defeated Inter 1-0 in last year’s final.
final season, Haaland scored 12 Champions League goals in just 11 games, including five in just 63 minutes against old Bundesliga rival RB Leipzig in the final 16.
The 28-cap international also scored at home and away against another familiar foe, Bayern Munich, in the quarter-finals, his steadiness in front of goal proving essential.
Claiming the Premier League title, despite appearing to be fairly certain, was not easy for City. Arsenal’s resurgence under Mikel Arteta pushed the Cityzens all the way, and things could have been quite different if Haaland hadn’t scored so many goals from the first game until the last weeks of the season.
There was also an FA Cup victory, completing a historic treble for Guardiola’s players. While he was rested on numerous times in the early stages, Haaland scored three goals against Burnley in the quarter-finals and played the entire 2-1 victory over local rivals Manchester United in early June.
