da realsbet： The Norwegian has been fascinated with the Champions League since he was a child and is on the brink of realising his dream by winning it

da blaze casino： With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both having left European football, there is a gaping hole on the Champions League stage. Luckily for everyone at UEFA, Erling Haaland has already filled it.

The Portuguese and the Argentine have defined Europe's competition for more than 15 years. As well as lifting the trophy a total of nine times between them and scoring a combined 269 goals, they have been the competition's biggest pull, two insatiable winners who revelled in playing on Europe's biggest stage.

But Haaland has the same hunger to perform when the world is watching. He has spoken at length about his love for the competition and has displayed it in other ways, such as having the anthem as the ringtone on his phone.

Haaland loves the Champions League and it sure loves him back. Some of his best performances have come on European nights, for RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City.

On Saturday at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, he will play in his first final at the age of 22. It is unlikely to be his last and if he continues at his current rate of scoring, he could even eventually unseat Ronaldo and Messi as the competition's highest scorer and biggest star.

GettyFrom childhood fascination to playing the anthem in his car

Footballers talk of winning the Champions League as a dream come true, but for Erling Haaland it was not so much a dream as an objective he set out to achieve. You could even call it an obsession.

"I have been dreaming and thinking of it my whole life. It has been my dream as long as I can remember, so a long time," he told reporters the week before the final.

Haaland's fascination with the competition began seven years old when he watched his first Champions League final in 2008, between Manchester United and Chelsea. As United danced in the Moscow rain after beating Chelsea in a penalty shootout, the young Norwegian, watching on TV in his hometown of Bryne, wanted a piece of the action.

"When I saw the celebrations I wanted to do that as well. I am getting closer and closer," he added.

Haaland's love for the Champions League continued into adulthood and when he was at RB Salzburg he was filmed driving around the Austrian city with the anthem blaring out of his stereo.

Haaland was asked about his peculiar car song of choice in the build-up to the final. "I'll say it again, I love this competition and I like it and I enjoy it. That's why," he said. "And it's also a really nice song."

AdvertisementGetty ImagesA hat-trick on his Champions League debut

Haaland was prolific in his first experience of European football, scoring four goals in five Europa League qualifiers with Norwegian side Molde, his second club.

His next move, to Salzburg, allowed him to play in the competition he craved. And his debut could hardly have gone better. He scored in just the second minute of his Champions League debut against Genk and by half-time he had completed his hat-trick in a stunning 6-2 win.

His second game in the competition was a dream trip to Anfield and he also got on the scoresheet by completing a stunning fightback for Jesse Marsch's side, who came from 3-0 down to level things up, only for Mohamed Salah to find a late winner and make it 4-3.

Haaland continued to net in his next two Champions League matches, home and away to Napoli, and also struck against Genk. The only game he failed to score in during the group stage was the final home game against Liverpool, where his side lost 2-0 and exited the competition.

Getty ImagesTaking centre stage in empty stadiums

Haaland had already outgrown Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund pounced, beating Manchester United to his signature in January 2020. His first game for the German side in the Champions League was against Paris Saint-Germain and he did not disappoint, scoring twice and celebrating with his meditation pose.

That seemed to anger Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and PSG's players mimicked the celebration when they won 2-0 in an empty second leg to knock Dortmund out.

Haaland continued where he had left off the following season, though, scoring six times in Dortmund's first four group stage games before suffering a muscle injury. He recovered for the last-16 and made up for lost time by scoring twice in each game against Sevilla. Even in empty stadiums as the coronavirus pandemic continued, Haaland was taking centre stage.

Dortmund were paired with City in the quarter-finals and, in the first instance of what was to become a very familiar sight, Haaland scored at the Etihad Stadium. But he could not prevent Dortmund from losing the first or second leg to Guardiola's side.

Last season Haaland suffered badly with injuries and was only able to play three matches in the Champions League. Typically, he still managed to average a goal every game, netting away to Besiktas and scoring twice in a 5-0 romp over the Turkish side in Dortmund.

By then Dortmund had already been knocked out of the group stage, and the fact that Haaland was absent for half of their matches is surely no coincidence.

GettyA goal every 50 minutes then five in one game

Haaland continued his love affair with the Champions League in his first European outing for City, scoring twice to down Sevilla 4-0. As fate would have it, his first home European game for his new club was against his old club.

And it was against Dortmund that he scored one of his best goals ever, an outrageous, kung-fu-like volley to win the match 2-1.

Haaland struck twice more against Copenhagen before injury struck, but he ended the group stage on five goals despite only playing 250 minutes of football, averaging a goal every 50 minutes.

And in the knockout stage he made Champions League history against RB Leipzig, becoming the first player to score five goals in a knockout match since Lionel Messi for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012. Haaland might well have broken the record had he not been substituted in the 63rd minute.

The Norwegian scored in each game of City's quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich, also missing a penalty in the away leg. The only disappointing note of his campaign for City was the fact that he did not manage to score in either game against Real Madrid. But with City winning the second leg 4-0 in one of the most dominant performances in a Champions League semi-final, it mattered little.