Ronald Koeman is unwilling to discuss possible moves for Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland amid potential financial investment into Barcelona, depending on the identity of the club's next president. 

Toni Freixa, who is one of the three remaining candidates in the running for the role ahead of the election on March 7, has revealed he has reached an agreement with an investor that will make significant funds available. 

Speaking to RAC1, Freixa said the €250million injection is lined up to seal the addition of three "superstars" to the squad, of which two will be in attack. 

However, while waiting to see who will take over the presidential role, Koeman's only concern is on the current players at his disposal, rather than big-money signings for next season and beyond. 

"I don't know if this is true because until I talk to the new president, I can't say anything. I don't know," Koeman said on Tuesday. 

"We have to wait until we know who the new president is. He will be the one who will have to decide the future of the coach, the team [and] see what possibilities there are.  

"I'll wait until March 8 [the day after the election]."

Ahead of Barcelona's LaLiga game with Elche on Wednesday, Koeman was unsurprisingly asked about two obvious names that would meet the criteria laid out by Freixa, who said those lined up to join are "unique players".

Barca saw up close the talents of Mbappe when he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 Champions League triumph for Paris Saint-Germain at Camp Nou, while Haaland has 27 goals already this season in all competitions. 

"This is not the time to talk about the other players," Koeman replied when asked about the young forward duo. 

"We are playing important games, and this could be the future of the club, or of a new president. We have to focus on our business.  

"These upcoming games are very decisive, and we are concentrating on this, which is the most important thing."

Barcelona head into the game against Elche looking to bounce back quickly from Sunday's surprise 1-1 home draw with Cadiz.

They have not lost any of their previous 16 meetings with Elche in LaLiga (W12 D4), keeping a clean sheet in the past nine. Lionel Messi has scored four goals in three matches against them in league action, an average of 1.33 per game.

Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland should join Bayern Munich or leave the Bundesliga to further his career, Lothar Matthaus says.

The Norway striker scored twice in the 4-0 win over Schalke last weekend to take his tally to 27 in all competitions this season, behind only Robert Lewandowski (31) among Bundesliga players.

Haaland also hit two in the 3-2 win at Sevilla in the Champions League last-16 first leg to become the first player in the competition's history to score as many as 17 goals in his first 13 appearances.

The 20-year-old only joined Dortmund last January but is already being linked with a post-season move to one of Europe's major clubs.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea have all been credited with an interest in Haaland, who is speculated to have a release clause of €75million that becomes active in 2022.

Bayern great Matthaus thinks Haaland ultimately has two choices at this stage of his career: pursue a move away from the Bundesliga, or sign for the champions.

"At a young age, he's a striker unlike any I've seen before: this goal tally, this power, passion, energy, as well as quality," he told Sport1.

"He could follow in the footsteps of other great footballers of the last 13 or 14 years.

"He won't be at Borussia Dortmund for life. He'll look for bigger clubs; he'll get a bigger wage. If he stays in the Bundesliga, there's only one step for him: Bayern."

Bayern have endured a dip in form of late, drawing with Arminia Bielefeld before a 2-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Those results have allowed RB Leipzig to close to within two points of the leaders, and Matthaus thinks the challengers have an advantage in the title race due to squad depth.

Claiming a ninth title in a row for Bayern is "not a cast-iron guarantee", Matthaus wrote in his column for Sky.

He added: "It's already the case that [Bayern coach] Hansi Flick turns to the substitutes bench at critical moments and thinks, 'Who exactly can really help me now?'.

"If the situation worsens in terms of personnel, the season could end far less successfully."

Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus.

Europe's elite are lining up to sign Erling Haaland, but who will he join?

Whoever it is, Haaland is set to command a mammoth contract.

 

TOP STORY – HAALAND ASKING FOR LUCRATIVE DEAL

Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland wants a contract in the region of £78million (€90m) as speculation intensifies over his future, according to the Daily Star.

Haaland is a player in demand following his exploits for Bundesliga side Dortmund, linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus.

The report claims Haaland wants a five-year deal worth around £300,000 (€346,000) per week.

 

ROUND-UP

- Should Kylian Mbappe leave for Madrid, Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain want to replace him with Tottenham star Harry Kane, claims the Mirror.

- Bild says Chelsea, Liverpool and United are interested in signing RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate. His centre-back partner Dayot Upamecano is set to join Bayern Munich at the end of the season, having been linked with the Premier League's elite.

Liverpool are preparing a £40m bid for Brighton and Hove Albion defender Ben White, reports Football Insider. Jurgen Klopp is desperate to bolster his injury-hit defence amid a difficult 2020-21 campaign.

- The Daily Mail says United are considering a move for Everton youngster Jarrad Branthwaite. The 18-year-old defender has impressed since joining the Toffees.

Leipzig lead the race to sign Ajax sensation Brian Brobbey, according to Diario AS. United, Milan and Bayern have also been linked.

Milan and Inter target Odilon Kossounou – who plays for Club Brugge - is also wanted by Premier League duo Arsenal and Wolves, claims The Sun.

- Calciomercato reports Juventus are eyeing Leicester City winger Timothy Castagne, who arrived from Atalanta at the start of the season.

Erling Haaland said he is learning from Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his stunning goal against Schalke, while Jadon Sancho hailed Borussia Dortmund's "goal machine".

Haaland scored a brace, including a spectacular volley, as Dortmund crushed lowly Schalke 4-0 in Saturday's Revierderby at the VELTINS-Arena.

After netting twice in the Champions League win at Sevilla on Wednesday, in-demand Norway international Haaland took his Bundesliga tally for Dortmund to 30 in 32 matches.

Reflecting on his memorable 45th-minute goal – teed up by star team-mate Jadon Sancho, Haaland told Bundesliga.com: "It was a nice goal.

"Obviously it was a good assist from Jadon. We try to work a lot and it's a pleasure to play with this guy."

Asked if he had developed a taste for spectacular goals from Swedish great Ibrahimovic, Haaland – who has been linked to the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester United – replied: "Maybe. Maybe I'm learning a bit from him!"

Sancho became the youngest player to reach 35 goals in Bundesliga history, aged 20 years, 10 months and 26 days.

Tipped to join Premier League powerhouse United at the start of the season, England international Sancho lauded Haaland post-match.

"He's a goal machine," said Sancho. "I'm happy to assist his crazy goal, his first goal.

"On the training pitch, me and Erling work together so hard so I'm wasn't surprised that he's able to do some of the things he does on the pitch. He deserves all the credit."

Interim Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic heaped praise on both Haaland and Sancho afterwards.

"They've been fantastic in the past weeks as well," Terzic said. "You can see the quality those boys bring to us. At the second goal the cross by Jadon has already been remarkable and the way Erling hammered it in was extraordinary.

"But from a manager's perspective I have to say I preferred the third goal, because it was a great team effort where we've seen the exact things we practice in training, the way we want to combine and then quickly get behind the defence through one touch on the wings and play a cross. So the third goal makes me even happier and prouder."

On Sancho specifically following a slow start to the season, Terzic added: "It was clear that Jadon hasn't unlearnt how to play football. He is a very talented player, and we are quite spoilt seeing him on the pitch in the last couple of years, because he’s always been very productive.

"It wasn't an easy time for him, and we went through it together. I was asked a lot of times about how we deal with him. We talked a lot and we worked with him individually and tried supporting him as a team. He plays on the other side on and with Raphael Guerrero he's got a great partner with whom he can combine well. He found back to being a dangerous attacker and makes assists.

"He's back at his old strength but it doesn't mean we will stop progressing. We will continue and we have several tasks we need to achieve, and we need Jadon in top form for that."

Jadon Sancho became the youngest player to reach 35 goals in Bundesliga history, but team-mate Erling Haaland is fast closing in on that record after netting another double in Borussia Dortmund's 4-0 win over Schalke.

England international Sancho picked his spot from just inside the box to open the scoring for BVB in Saturday's Revierderby at the VELTINS-Arena.

Sancho, who joined Dortmund from Manchester City in August 2017, reached the 35-goal milestone at the age of 20 years, 10 months and 26 days.

However, Haaland took his Bundesliga tally for Dortmund to 30 in 32 matches in the same game. Almost four months younger than Sancho, Haaland has until the end of the season to snatch the record off his team-mate.

It was Sancho who set up Haaland for the first of his goals against Schalke, floating in a cross from the left for the Norway international to volley spectacularly past Ralf Fahrmann with both feet off the ground.

Raphael Guerreiro scored the visitors' third with an hour played and, fresh from bagging a brace against Sevilla in the Champions League, man-of-the-moment Haaland rounded off the scoring with a poked finish late on.

The victory over their fiercest moves sixth-placed Dortmund within six points of the top four, while Schalke remain bottom of the table with nine points from 22 matches.

Ronald Koeman says he has his "ideas for the future" of Barcelona after Los Cules were once again linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland.

Barca are in a state of flux as they await to vote in a new president to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu and the club contending with spiralling and eye-watering levels of debt.

Despite their perilous financial position, Barca are among the clubs reportedly interested in signing Haaland, who saw his stock continue to rise with a double in Dortmund's 3-2 win over Sevilla in the Champions League last-16 first leg.

That made the Norway international the quickest player to reach double figures for goals in the competition for a single club, doing so in just seven matches - three games fewer than Roy Makaay for Bayern Munich between 2003 and 2004.

Former Salzburg star Haaland has 18 goals in 13 games in the competition overall, which is a tally only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski can match since the start of 2019-20.

Barca head coach Koeman was asked about the possibility of bringing Haaland to Camp Nou and, while keeping his cards close to his chest, did not entirely rule out a move.

"I have my ideas for the future of this club," Koeman told a news conference when previewing Barca's LaLiga clash with Cadiz on Sunday. 

"But I have to wait for who is going to be the president to sit down and talk about the future."

Earlier this week, presidential hopeful Joan Laporta suggested Haaland would be a target should he be successful in his bid.

"If we have to improve the football team, I have the cards and I'm ready to play them," he said in direct response to the links with Haaland.

"It's because of the experience and the knowledge I have of the people who could intervene in all these situations.

"I want to send a message of calm to the Barcelona fans - we will be economically sustainable again."

Manchester City are reportedly yet to begin talks over a move for Lionel Messi, while Erling Haaland is Barcelona's ideal signing.

Messi's future continues to be a major talking point as the star's contract at Barcelona expires at the end of the season.

City have been one of the clubs most strongly linked with a move for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, but it seems the Premier League giants are waiting.

 

TOP STORY – MAN CITY YET TO BEGIN MESSI TALKS

Manchester City are yet to open talks with Lionel Messi, according to ESPN.

The report says City will wait until the Argentina international has decided his Barcelona future before considering negotiations.

It comes after claims the Premier League side had already tabled an offer to Messi.

 

ROUND-UP

- Erling Haaland is wanted by numerous European giants. Mundo Deportivo reports the Borussia Dortmund star would be Barcelona's ideal signing, but the LaLiga side are considering more affordable options.

- Manchester United were seemingly keen to land Barcelona forward Ansu Fati last year. Mundo Deportivo says a £129.7million (€150m) bid from United for the 18-year-old was rejected ahead of 2020-21.

- With Tottenham slipping to ninth in the Premier League, Jose Mourinho has come under fire. ESPN reports Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will wait until the end of the season to make a decision on the head coach.

- Out of contract at the end of the season, Gianluigi Donnarumma is yet to agree to a new deal with Milan. 90min claims the 21-year-old wants to succeed Manchester United shot-stopper David de Gea as the highest paid goalkeeper in the world, although he is prepared to take reduced terms at Milan.

- Thierry Henry could be set to take over at Bournemouth. talkSPORT reports the Championship club have requested permission from CF Montreal, where Henry is currently in charge, to talk to the Arsenal great.

Zinedine Zidane enjoyed watching Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in Champions League action, though he refused to be drawn over his preference amid links to Real Madrid.

Mbappe lit up the start of the knockout stages of the European competition with a hat-trick for Paris Saint-Germain against Madrid's domestic rivals Barcelona on Tuesday, helping the French club record an outstanding 4-1 triumph at Camp Nou.

Just 24 hours later, Haaland continued his astonishing scoring exploits in the Champions League, becoming the fastest player to reach 10 goals for one club as he struck twice for Borussia Dortmund in a 3-2 victory away to Sevilla in the last 16.

Both young forwards have been rumoured as transfer targets for Madrid, so it was hardly surprising they were a topic of discussion for Zidane during his pre-match media conference ahead of Saturday's LaLiga trip to Real Valladolid.

Asked for his assessment of fellow Frenchman Mbappe, he replied: "I think the performance he put in earlier this week was marvellous. 

"I loved seeing what he did because we know each other from France.

"It's very good for football, I watched the game as a fan. I had a very good time watching it. He has a lot of good movement, a lot of good play."

French media has claimed Mbappe has been offered a new long-term deal to remain at PSG. The 22-year-old's current contract runs until 2022, which is the same year Haaland can leave Dortmund for €75million (£65m), according to a reported agreement with the Bundesliga club.

Madrid head coach Zidane, however, was not interested in revealing which of the duo he ranked higher.

"Like I said, what I like is just watching football. I just like watching good football, good players on the pitch," he said. 

"Two tremendous players, for now and the future. That's it. I'm not going to say who I prefer over the other. Everyone has their opinion."

The continued rise of Mbappe and Haaland as superstars has led to suggestions they can step in and become the next great pairing, taking over from the longstanding rivalry between Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona captain Lionel Messi.

"They are quality players both of them, just like Messi and Cristiano," Zidane said. "Neymar, all these world class players, they're just like them.

"They're younger, they're demonstrating they are not just players for the future but players for the present."

 

Barcelona may be in a financial position to move for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland at the end of the season, according to presidential candidate Joan Laporta.

Haaland's stock continues to rise following Wednesday's double for Dortmund in their 3-2 Champions League last-16 first-leg win over Sevilla.

That made the Norway international the quickest player to reach double figures for goals in the competition for a single club, doing so in just seven matches - three games fewer than Roy Makaay for Bayern Munich between 2003 and 2004.

He has now scored a double in three successive Champions League games, having also netted twice against Club Brugge in the group stage.

Former Salzburg star Haaland has 18 goals in 13 games in the competition overall, which is a tally only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski can match since the start of 2019-20.

That type of scoring form has seen Haaland strongly linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus and Barcelona.

Despite Barca's well-known financial struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic, Laporta - who has close links to Haaland's agent Mino Raiola - is not ruling out a possible move.

"If we have to improve the football team, I have the cards and I'm ready to play them," he said in direct response to the links with the 20-year-old attacker.

"It's because of the experience and the knowledge I have of the people who could intervene in all these situations.

"I want to send a message of calm to the Barcelona fans - we will be economically sustainable again."

Laporta is one of three remaining candidates in the running to take over as Barca's next president, along with Victor Font and Toni Freixa.

The elections were originally due to take place in January but had to be pushed back to March 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jesse Marsch has been tipped to replace Marco Rose at Borussia Monchengladbach and Karim Adeyemi is confident the Salzburg boss will continue to have a successful coaching career.

It was announced this week that former Salzburg boss Rose will leave Gladbach at the end of the season to take over Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Marsch replaced Rose at Salzburg in 2019 after a season working under Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig and is considered to be one of the leading candidates to take over at Gladbach.

The American led Salzburg to a league and cup double in his first season at the helm and they sit three points clear at top of the Austrian Bundesliga this term, while they will take on Villarreal in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday.

Asked if Marsch could enjoy as much success as Rose, Salzburg forward Adeyemi told Stats Perform News: "Yes, of course. They wouldn't let him coach here if they didn't think further.

"But I think he does it really well. His career as coach so far has been great. We will see how everything continues."

Adeyemi does not expect Marsch or the team to become distracted by talk of an impending exit for the Salzburg boss.

"As I said quite often, I am focusing on the present. Whatever happens will happen," said Adeyemi.

"I think his focus and our focus as a team is 100 per cent here, and I think he doesn't care about the future now, but rather focuses on our tasks and how we perform as a team.

"He is 100 per cent focusing on us. We all like that and that's how it should be."

On what makes Marsch such a strong coach, Adeyemi said: "What makes him so special is that he is always with you. It doesn't matter whether it's on or off the pitch, he's always there for you.

"He listens to you or gives you some advice. On the pitch he is always focused and wants to help you. Even if you don't play he tries to support you. I think there are coaches that don't do that. He is not like that, he always tries to help you.

"That's what characterises a good coach and I think that's super."

Erling Haaland thanked Paris Saint-Germain's hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe for inspiring the Borussia Dortmund forward to score a double in Wednesday's Champions League win against Sevilla.

Haaland cannot stop scoring in Europe's premier club competition, netting a first-half brace in Dortmund's 3-2 away victory in the opening leg of the last-16 tie, and taking his Champions League tally to 18 goals in 13 games.

The 20-year-old has scored 41 goals in 42 games since joining the German outfit from Austrian club Salzburg in 2019, and he continues to turn heads across Europe with his prolific scoring form amid links to the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City.

After watching Mbappe decimate Barcelona during PSG's 4-1 win at Camp Nou on Tuesday, Haaland used the French star's scintillating performance as motivation to get his own scoring boots on.

"It was good to score goals. I love the Champions League and when I saw [Kylian] Mbbape score the hat-trick yesterday I got free motivation so thanks to him," Haaland said.

"I saw Mbappe yesterday and he scored some nice goals and I got a free boost from him."

In scoring his 10th Champions League goal in seven appearances for Dortmund, Haaland reached the milestone quicker than any other player in competition history, beating Roy Makaay's record of 10 goals in 10 games for Bayern Munich in 2003-04.

Haaland also becomes only the fifth player to notch a brace in three straight Champions League games, joining the company of Filippo Inzaghi, Giovane Elber, Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo – the latter has achieved the feat on three occasions.

No player has scored more Champions League goals than Haaland since the start of last season's competition, with Bayern forward Lewandowski equalling his 18-goal tally.

After 13 career games in the competition, Haaland has 10 more goals than the next highest scorers – Raul and Karim Benzema with eight. Lionel Messi had scored three goals after 13 games, while Ronaldo had none.

While Haaland is scoring goals and setting records, the Norway international has no intention of slowing down when Dortmund host the Spanish outfit in the second leg on March 10.

"We have three away goals and that's quite important," he added. "We have to attack the game at home against Sevilla and we have to keep going."

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.

Erling Haaland credited Edin Terzic after he scored twice in a 3-2 comeback victory over Sevilla in the Champions League, saying he has been "talking a lot" with the interim Borussia Dortmund coach.

Terzic, who has endured a difficult spell since taking charge in December, enjoyed an improved performance from his players as they cancelled out Suso's early strike with a goal from Mahmoud Dahoud before a brace from Haaland gave his side a 3-1 lead at half-time.

Luuk de Jong's late strike ensured Sevilla retain some hope of reaching the quarter-finals as they prepare for the return leg in Dortmund, but Haaland reflected on an improved performance from his team-mates.

"I felt like, I don't know if you can say it's down to motivation or passion or whatever, but we were more online today," Haaland, whose side arrived in Seville having won just one of their previous six matches in LaLiga, told DAZN.

"It was good. It was not good to let in two goals, but it is good to score three away goals and take them with us.

"We had a good plan. Edin has been good and I've been talking a lot with him. He said today would be my game and that I would get my chances and I did, so it was an important win."

With Dortmund in action against Schalke in the Bundesliga on Saturday, Haaland added: "We have to recover quickly now. We've got a big game ahead this weekend.

"We have to take this positive mindset into that game because we have to win that one as well, but it was really nice to win tonight in Spain."

Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui felt his side deserved more from the game, which saw them defeated for the first time in 11 matches in all competitions.

Dahoud's strike was the first goal Sevilla had conceded in nine matches, and Lopetegui felt Haaland gave the visitors the edge.

"The result is not good," he told Canal Sur. "But there is one game left and we hold on to that possibility.

"We have not deserved to lose, but in the end they have one of the best players in the world who has made a difference in three situations that we could have avoided.

"It is a very harsh punishment. We deserved the draw."

Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 10 goals for one team in Champions League history as he played a leading role for Borussia Dortmund against Sevilla on Wednesday.  

The Norwegian was on target twice in the opening half as Dortmund impressively recovered after falling behind in the first leg of the last-16 tie.  

Suso's seventh-minute opener put Sevilla on top, only for Mahmoud Dahoud to equalise with a long-range attempt.  

Haaland bravely converted Jadon Sancho's throughball to put the visitors ahead at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, then added another before the break as he clinically finished off a flowing counter-attacking move, placing in a shot from Marco Reus' pass.  

The two-goal salvo lifted him to double figures for Dortmund in the Champions League in just his seventh appearance. Roy Makaay was previously the quickest to do so for one club, managing it in 10 games for Bayern Munich.

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 20-year-old joining illustrious company. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has managed it no fewer than three times, along with former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, Bayern legend 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.

Erling Haaland extended his record of scoring against every side he has faced in the Champions League as he struck twice to help Borussia Dortmund come from behind and win 3-2 at Sevilla. 

The visitors fell behind to an early Suso strike in the first leg of the last-16 tie but then laid siege to the Sevilla goal, scoring three times in 24 minutes. 

Haaland assisted Mahmoud Dahoud to score his first Champions League goal before the Norway striker then netted a brace to take his Dortmund tally to 10 in the competition, though Sevilla had the last word with a late Luuk de Jong strike in reply. 

No player has reached double figures in the Champions League for a club in fewer games than Haaland's seven, and while the form guide may have made Sevilla favourites, he showed his match-winning qualities on Europe's biggest stage.

Suso opened the scoring after seven minutes when his attempt made it beyond Marwin Hitz via a wicked deflection off Mats Hummels' foot. 

Sevilla then invited pressure, allowing Haaland to skip through midfield and pick out Dahoud, whose powerful drive hit the top right corner of the net. 

Haaland stormed through Sevilla's half again eight minutes later, only pausing to play a one-two with Jadon Sancho before sliding in to convert from close range. 

The 20-year-old finished a sweeping Dortmund move on the cusp of half-time to extend the lead, applying a first-time left-footed finish to Marco Reus' pass. 

Sergio Escudero rolled a shot narrowly wide from 10 yards as Sevilla sought to claw their way back in during the second half, while substitute Oscar Rodriguez sent a curling free-kick crashing onto the post. 

De Jong did volley a Rodriguez pass into the far corner of the net from close range with six minutes left on the clock to narrow the deficit - a goal that could prove crucial if Sevilla can get a result in the return fixture. 
 

What does it mean? Sevilla's dream hanging by a thread 

With a place in LaLiga's top four looking well within reach this season, Sevilla had their sights set on making it to the Champions League quarter-finals for only the second time. 

Head coach Julen Lopetegui will have to summon a drastic improvement from his players if they are to overturn the deficit in Dortmund, where they will need at least two goals to have a chance of progressing. 

Haaland fast becoming Europe's best 

Haaland has scored 18 Champions League goals since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, putting him level with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski as the competition's top scorer in that period. 

Sevilla forwards fall flat 

Despite lining up with a front three, Sevilla mustered just two shots on target in the first half and the same number again after the interval – a tally that does not bode well for the second leg, despite the late strike from De Jong reducing the deficit. 

What's next? 

Dortmund travel to Schalke for a game against the Bundesliga's bottom club on Saturday, while Sevilla are not in action again until they face Osasuna in LaLiga on Monday. 

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