Borussia Dortmund interim head coach Edin Terzic hailed two-goal hero Erling Haaland, highlighting his team ethic in the 3-2 Champions League win against Sevilla.
Haaland scored a brace to fuel Dortmund to a first-leg victory in Tuesday's last-16 tie at Europa League holders Sevilla.
The Norway sensation became the fastest player to reach 10 goals for one team in Champions League history, having reached double figures for Dortmund in just his seventh appearance.
Heavily linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus, Terzic heaped praise on the 20-year-old forward.
"As a coach you always try to tell him [Erling Haaland] something before the game," Terzic told reporters.
"You think about how you bring your strengths onto the pitch. Today we left him with fewer defensive duties and tried to let him stay in the centre of the pitch. We knew that Sevilla would take risks and try and bring the ball out via their central defenders. And then there would be a one-on-one possible with their rest of the defence.
"We wanted to have Erling in a good position when there was a counterattack on for us. It worked very well and he got the reward of the two goals. But we are more proud of what he did for the team, how he fought, how he kept the ball.
"It's outstanding that he scored the two goals. The way he was playing for the team today was exactly what we needed. But everybody deserves the same words.
"It was a good team performance and Erling contributed to that."
For a third successive European game, Haaland managed to score a brace – he had also found the net twice in back-to-back fixtures against Club Brugge in the group stage. Only four other players have achieved the feat, with the in-demand forward joining illustrious company.
Cristiano Ronaldo has managed it no fewer than three times, along with former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich's Giovane Elber and two-time Champions League winner Filippo Inzaghi.
Haaland now has 18 goals in 13 appearances in the competition – a tally that only Lewandowski can match since the start of the 2019-20 season.
To put his scoring exploits in perspective, Ronaldo failed to find the net in his first 13 Champions League games, while Lionel Messi managed three goals across the same number.
Football rumours: Real Madrid set January deadline in Kylian Mbappe pursuit
Real Madrid are reportedly ready to offer Kylian Mbappe a contract, but it comes with a deadline. The Daily Mail, citing AS, says the Spanish giants are committed to offering the Paris St Germain forward a deal before the expiration of his current deal next summer. However, Real are expecting a firm answer to their offer by January 15 at the latest.
The Mail, this time via Tuttosport, also says Juventus are prepared to withdraw from talks to sign Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho. According to the paper, bosses at the Italian club are concerned by the 23-year-old’s potential price tag. Sancho was signed from Borussia Dortmund for £73million, and United would be determined to receive as much as possible in any transfer.
And The Sun reports 19-year-old United States and Hajduk Split attacking midfielder Rokas Pukstas has emerged on Arsenal’s radar.
Social media round-upPlayers to watchRicharlison: The Tottenham forward is attracting plenty of interest from the Saudi Pro League, according to the website 90 Min.
Hakan Calhanoglu: Calciomercato says West Ham would need to stump up more than £40m for the Inter Milan midfielder.
On this day in 2004: Glenn Hoddle appointed Wolves manager
Glenn Hoddle was appointed manager of Wolves on this day in 2004 .
The former England boss had been out of a job since leaving Tottenham in September 2003 and had previous managerial experience with Swindon, Chelsea and Southampton.
Hoddle took charge, succeeding manager Dave Jones for a second time having previously replaced him at Southampton.
Jones was sacked at the start of November following the club’s relegation to the Championship and a miserable start to the new season saw them languishing in 17th when Hoddle took over.
“I’m delighted to be here. I saw the massive potential Wolverhampton have got; their ambition paralleled my thoughts,” Hoddle said.
“Wolves are a Premiership outfit with the fan base and ambition – they’ve already had a taste, and it’s very clear to me that is where they want to be put back again.
“It’s a very big challenge. We’re not sitting on top of the league – there’s a lot of work to be done.
“That (the Premier League) is where everybody at this club wants to go. I picked that up very quickly, and that’s where I want to go. I’m delighted to be back in football as well.”
Hoddle steered the club to a ninth-placed finish in the 2004-05 season, but Wolves missed out on the play-offs by eight points the following season with a seventh-placed finish.
He resigned as manager in July 2006 and it remains his last job in management, excluding a short spell as coach at QPR under Harry Redknapp in 2014-15.
Crisis? Not for us – Erik ten Hag can see Man Utd progress after Chelsea win
Erik ten Hag dismissed any talk of Manchester United’s season being in crisis as he stressed “we are going in the right direction” following the 2-1 win over Chelsea.
United went into the contest at Old Trafford on the back of Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Newcastle, their 10th defeat in all competitions this term.
After Bruno Fernandes saw an early penalty saved by Robert Sanchez, a Scott McTominay brace, either side of Cole Palmer’s equaliser, secured United a victory that took them up to sixth in the Premier League table, three points behind fourth-placed defending champions Manchester City.
When asked at his post-match press conference what that said to him about a season that has felt like it has been in crisis, United boss Ten Hag said: “Crisis? Not for us.
“We keep calm, look at the process where we know where we have to build. We are going in the right direction.
“We don’t get distracted (by) criticism around us, but we are very critical on ourselves. We are not quickly satisfied and happy, we always want to do better. We have to improve a lot if we want to be successful – but this team is capable of being successful.”
There had been some reports ahead of the game that Ten Hag had lost the confidence of some of his players.
That led to United banning four media outlets for Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, with the club saying the action was taken for not “contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise.”
Ten Hag added: “Last week we played three games (a 3-0 win at Everton, 3-3 draw at Galatasaray and the Newcastle match). Two times we played good, and then one bad performance.
“But you see this team is in a good direction. I know sometimes you have a bad performance, but then still, you can get a result. That is the next step we have to make.
“But you see how we play, the style, so dominating the opponent, in and out of possession. That is the way I want to play. I was very pleased, it was very enjoyable how the team played.”
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