Haaland made his Dortmund career electric start after signing with Red Bull Salzburg in January. He scored 16 goals in 18 appearances in all club competitions in 2019-20.
Haaland follows Lewandowski’s footsteps
Expectations for Erling Haaland at Borussia Dortmund are higher than Robert Lewandowski ever had when joining the club, former BVB captain Sebastian Kehl said. Haaland made his Dortmund career electric start after signing with Red Bull Salzburg in January, scoring 16 goals in 18 appearances in all club competitions in 2019-20. The 20-year-old striker hit a double in his opening season against Borussia Monchengladbach but fought in a 2-0 defeat to Augsburg on Saturday with just one shot on target and 19 touches throughout the game. It was a significant flop for Haaland, which was touted to follow in Lewandowski’s footsteps, who spent four seasons at BVB between 2010 and 2014.
Since leaving BVB Lewy has grown into one of the world’s top strikers
“Lewandowski came to us as a great talent at the time. Haaland, on the other hand, had already signed for Dortmund at a very high level. And with a very contrasting reputation than Lewandowski at the time,” Kehl, told reporters. “We were looking forward to a player like Haaland. The hopes placed on him were correspondingly high immediately”. While Haaland settled right in, Lewandowski had to fight Lucas Barrios for a spot in the starting lineup after arriving from Lech Poznan. However, he has since grown into one of the world’s top strikers. He scored 55 goals as Bayern Munich won a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League treble last season.
“For Lewy, the 2010-11 season was not easy. He and Barrios did not always get along well. Lewy had to fight for his place and win,” said Kehl. “Lewandowski is so consistent, so complete, rarely injured – for me, he is one of the best in the world. A great player.” Haaland and Lewandowski will go H2H when Dortmund hosts Bayern in the DFL-Supercup on Wednesday. The Norwegian could easily have ended up at one of Dortmund’s Bundesliga rivals. Ralf Rangnick was recently admitting RB Leipzig had refused a chance to sign him while the veteran coach was working with the club.