On Wednesday, Sebastien Haller (27) and Ajax meet Borussia Dortmund again. The striker on his run and the clear first leg.
He feels “stronger than ever” right now and shows it game after game on the pitch: Sebastien Haller leads the scoring charts in the Eredivisie (seven goals) and would do the same in the Champions League (six), if it weren’t for Robert Lewandowski. But the ex-Frankfurter proved that his game is not only defined by goals in the 4-0 win between Ajax and BVB a fortnight ago.
Haller was involved in almost every attack, made balls, shook off Mats Hummels or Manuel Akanji, forwarded the ball with his heel and then crowned his gala (kicker grade 1.5) with the goal for the 4-0 final score. “If you look back at the 90 minutes, we know that it could have gone the other way,” said the 27-year-old modestly in an interview with kicker (Monday edition). “If only Erling Haaland had reduced the score to 1:2 at the start of the second half. We were very good, but it was certainly not a perfect performance.” That’s another reason why he says: “Nothing surprised me in this first duel.”
Haller on Dortmund: “It will be much harder “
As much as BVB acted erratically and with a lot of mistakes at the Johan Cruyff Arena, Ajax dismantled the Bundesliga side with a lot of confidence and enthusiasm for the game. “When we were in possession of the ball, they were not very aggressive,” Haller explained about BVB in retrospect. “That also gave us a lot of space and we were able to take our chances. But we also made life difficult for them by having a lot of pace and intensity.”
Will things be different in Dortmund on Wednesday night? “Due to the support of their fans, but also because BVB will certainly want to take revenge, it will be much harder for us,” Haller believes. “It will be important to stand up to Dortmund tactically and hurt them with counterattacks. “
Haller’s special praise for coach ten Hag
Anyway, Haller is convinced he can achieve as much with this Ajax team as he did in 2019, when he reached the Europa League semi-finals with Frankfurt“With our carefree attitude, enthusiasm and passion, we can go very far and surprise many teams. What’s in our favour is that the quality of this squad is very high, a great team is developing and we love playing together. No one is frustrated or in a bad mood. We are very hungry. “
What Haller attributes to coach Erik ten Hag: “The coach is incredibly obsessed with football, extremely meticulous, he always tries to create new drills in the sessions. He leaves nothing to chance and is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the world. He’s got a great future ahead of him. “
