Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe showed exactly why they are two of the most coveted young players in world football.
Mbappe scored a brilliant hat-trick against Barcelona on Tuesday while Haaland, not wanting to be outdone by the Paris Saint-German forward, scored two and recorded an assist in Borussia Dortmund’s win over Sevilla.
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The Norway wonderkid even spoke about how Mbappe’s goals spurred him on in his game the following day.
“When I saw Mbappe scored a hat-trick, I got free motivation so thanks to him,” said Haaland after his double in Spain.
The pair outshone Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in this week’s Champions League fixtures.
Messi did score but his Barcelona were thumped 4-1 by PSG thanks to Mbappe.
Ronaldo’s Juventus continued to falter as they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Porto.
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Ronaldo and Messi have dominated world football for more than a decade but we could be witnessing a changing of the guard.
They are both playing in teams that are struggling in the league while they have not been as prolific on the European stage.
They are not going down without a fight, though, as both are still among the top scorers in their leagues with 16 and 15 respectively.
Haaland, 20, and Mbappe, 22, look like the rivals needed to take over the mantle from a duo that vied for both team and individual awards but are now in the twilight of their careers.
Here, talkSPORT.com looks at the wonderkids’ stats since the start of last season compared to Messi and Ronaldo.
Stats since start of 19/20 season
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games – 64
Goals – 55
Champions League goals – 8
Assists – 9
Lionel Messi
Games – 66
Goals – 47
CL goals – 7
Assists – 29
Erling Haaland
Games – 58
Goals – 62
CL goals – 18
Assists – 7
Kylian Mbappe
Games – 57
Goals – 44
CL goals – 10
Assists – 19
And it is in the Champions League where the youngsters have started to outshine the legends.
Haaland and Mbappe have scored a combined 28 Champions League goals between them since the start of the 19/20 campaign, whereas Ronaldo and Messi have a mere 15.
Borussia Dortmund marksman Haaland started to gain recognition for his incredible goal record with Red Bull Salzburg before being signed by the Bundesliga side in January 2020 but has shown no sign of struggling to adapt to his new surroundings.
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Ronaldo and Messi have scored the most goals in Champions League history by quite some distance with 134 and 119 respectively – Raul and Robert Lewandowski are the closest challengers on 71.
If anyone can match those tallies then perhaps it will be Haaland and Mbappe.
Before their 21st birthday’s, Mbappe had scored 19 in Europe while Messi had nine and Ronaldo was yet to score.
Haaland does not turn 21 until July and is just one goal behind Mbappe’s haul.
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The new rivalry in world football?
It is perhaps unfair to put such a big label on two players so young and compare them to two of the greatest players in the game.
Ronaldo and Messi have won 11 of the last 12 Ballons d’Or and have broken dozens of records along the way.
The Portugal superstar is the top goalscorer in history with 763 to his name, although this is disputed. He is also Real Madrid’s record scorer and has won an incredible five Champions League trophies.
Messi is not too far behind on 654 goals and is Barcelona’s all-time top scorer as well as breaking numerous LaLiga records.
Haaland and Mbappe are at the start of their careers but the future looks in safe hands once Messi and Ronaldo retire.
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