Erling Haaland was speaking ahead of the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan.
He has named Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as his toughest opponent during his first season in the Premier League.
The Manchester City striker broke the league’s record for the most goals scored in a single season with his 36 goals. However, he failed to score in his one league appearance against Liverpool.
Haaland was unable to stop City from going down 1-0 at Anfield last October as Liverpool defender Van Dijk got the better of him. The Norwegian also failed to score in the season curtain-raiser at the King Power Stadium as the Reds defeated them 3-1 in the Community Shield.
Haaland missed a sitter that day. But since then, he went ahead to score 52 goals in just 51 games and on Saturday night will look to help City win their first Champions League when they battle Inter Milan in the the final in Istanbul. A win for City would seal an historic treble after winning the Premier League and FA Cup.
Ahead of the final, Haaland was asked by Rio Ferdinand on BT Sport who his toughest opponent has been this season. He said: “The most difficult, we struggled at Anfield I remember.
“Van Dijk, I always said it, I think he’s so good. But the good thing also about it is I’m meeting Ruben Dias, (Manuel) Akanji, (Nathan) Ake in training every single day. Training is not easy.
“But Van Dijk, I like him a lot. He’s smart, fast, and in the air, he’s just unreal as well.”
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Liverpool complete repurchase of Melwood HQ in ambitious plan for women’s team
Liverpool have confirmed the repurchase of the club’s former iconic training base Melwood with the women’s side set to take the keys.
The Reds completed the move to the £50m AXA Training centre at the end of 2020 with the existing base sold to affordable housing trust Torus. A lease was then agreed with Liverpool legends Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher as it was turned into a sporting and educational facility.
The ECHO now reports Liverpool have completed the repurchase for around £13m with plans to also use the site for the club’s foundation programmes, as well as for offering education to young people via the Fowler Education and Football Academy. Liverpool confirmed in a statement on Thursday they had been considering a number of alternative sites for their women’s team in recent years and that Melwood is the perfect fit.
Liverpool intend to offer an elite facility that enables their women’s side to continue to compete at the highest level, following a positive campaign upon their return to the top-flight. The club also confirmed the women’s club crest will move to the official club crest to further demonstrate the team’s inclusivity.
Liverpool FC’s managing director, Andy Hughes, said: “This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women board to elevate and develop our women’s first team and Category 1 Professional Game Academy.
“Now is the right time to make this move and we’re absolutely delighted that we’ve managed to take this opportunity to return to Melwood and to see it start a new chapter of Liverpool’s commitment to our women’s first team and academy. We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for LFC Foundation. We are delighted that FEFA will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people.
“We would like to thank Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher for their work with Torus since we left the site in 2019. We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to re-engaging with them in the near future.”
Chris Bowen, managing director at Torus Developments, added: “All our developments are designed to help transform places and inspire growth. We believe Liverpool FC is best-placed to use this location to support the growth of women’s football and to maximise the benefit of the site to the wider community.
“Although we will not be delivering this development, Torus will continue to seek other opportunities to develop affordable homes in Liverpool and to help local communities thrive.”
