Erling Haaland admits Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick heroics vs Barcelona inspired him during Sevilla win

Erling Haaland admitted his Champions League brace against Sevilla was inspired by Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick heroics in Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-1 thrashing of Barcelona.

Mbappe put Barcelona to the sword at the Nou Camp on Tuesday by netting his hat-trick to all-but secure PSG’s progression to the last-eight of the competition.

But on Wednesday it was Haaland’s turn to grab the headlines as he netted an emphatic brace during Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 victory away at Sevilla in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie.

Haaland’s double helped Dortmund beat Sevilla 3-2 in first leg of their Champions League tie

And after putting Dortmund in the driving seat of their last-16 tie, Haaland admitted Mbappe’s heroics in the Nou Camp drove him on.

The 20-year-old striker told Norwegian broadcaster Viaplay: ‘It was good to score goals.

‘I love the Champions League and when I saw Mbappe score the hat-trick yesterday I got free motivation, so thanks to him.

‘He scored some nice goals and I got a good boost from him.’

Haaland’s killer instinct in front of goal has led to him attracting heavy interest from  across Europe and Real Madrid in particular, and when he was asked how it felt to be coveted by the Spanish giants, he simply replied: ‘It’s always nice when someone wants you.’

Kylian Mbappe put Barcelona to the sword on Tuesday by scoring a hat-trick in PSG’s 4-1 win

The Frenchman poses with his hat-trick ball and the Man of the Match award at the Nou Camp

Both Haaland and Mbappe are continuing to set European football alight and the pair are expected to dominate at the top of the game for years to come, finally taking over the burden from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Haaland’s brace on Wednesday moved him on to a remarkable 18 goals in 13 Champions League matches.

And he is on course to overtake Mbappe as the player to score the most goals in Europe’s top competition before his 21st birthday. 

The Norwegian showed his potential by scoring eight times in the group stage with RB Salzburg, which earned him his move to Dortmund in January 2019.

Haaland has now scored 10 times for the Germans in seven Champions League games, toppling Roy Makaay as the player to score 10 goals in the competition for one team in the fewest amount of games.

Haaland admitted that Mbappe’s hat-trick heroics inspired him to his brace in Sevilla

Makaay scored 10 goals in 10 Champions League games for Bayern Munich between 2003 and 2004.

Going off Haaland’s latest quotes regarding Mbappe on Wednesday, the Norwegian has clearly put PSG’s antics against Dortmund from last season to the back of his mind.

After PSG knocked Dortmund out of last term’s Champions League during the last-16 stage at the Parc des Princes, the French side’s players – including Mbappe – mocked Haaland by mimicking his trademark meditation celebration.

Neymar also brought the meditation act out after he opened the scoring last year at the Parc des Princes, as PSG stars seemed to retaliate following Haaland’s celebration during the first leg which Dortmund had won.