Nico Schlotterbeck recalls it as a defining afternoon in his career, a breakthrough Bundesliga fixture from just over a year ago. “It was when I realised how good I can be,” the defender proudly said of the day he marked Erling Haaland, when his then team Freiburg beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1, and, most importantly, Haaland was kept off the scoresheet.
It turned out that Dortmund had also found the young centre-back’s performance revealing. At the end of the season, once they were reconciled with the fact their outstanding young Norwegian striker would be the latest to move on from the club for a high profit, they reinvested €20 million of their Haaland dividend on signing Schlotterbeck from Freiburg.
He is only 22, rapidly establishing himself in the German national team and, as he told Sport Bild, still treasures that rare boast among defenders who have operated in the Bundesliga over the last two-and-a-half years: He kept Haaland quiet for 90 minutes. Indeed in three matches against Haaland – including two substitute appearances, one while on loan at Union Berlin – he has yet to witness a Haaland goal.
Now comes the hard part. If Haaland was a phenomenon in his coming-of-age Dortmund period – when he spread his 62 league goals, in 67 appearances, against 18 different clubs – in the Champions League, where Dortmund face City on Wednesday, he is even more prolific.
His brace against Sevilla last week, on his European debut for the English champions, elevated his tally to 25 in 20 matches. His total already for City, across competitions, stands at 12 goals from eight games.
That’s daunting form for Schlotterbeck, for the experienced Mats Hummels, who spent two-and-a-half years at Dortmund being bruised and outsprinted in training sessions by Haaland, and for the man-mountain Niklas Sule, who, newly signed by Dortmund from Bayern Munich, will remember feeling dwarfed by Haaland in their Bundesliga and cup collisions.
That trio will likely line up in a back three at the Etihad in front of second-choice goalkeeper Alex Meyer, who since he assumed the gloves from the injured Gregor Kobel, has been on the wrong side of a heavy defeat, 3-0 to RB Leipzig at the weekend.
That was one of a series of setbacks since Dortmund, a club with a fine tradition of developing young talents, said farewell to Haaland with City making the most persuasive case to the striker out of several potential buyers prepared to trigger his €60m release fee.
Sevilla 0 Manchester 4: player ratings
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SEVILLA RATINGS: Bono – 4. Never stood a chance for the goals, made some important saves to limit Manchester City to just four with their dominance. AFP -
Marcos Acuña – 2. Struggled to cope with Man City’s forward pressing when playing out the back. Getty Images -
Tanguy Nianzou – 2. Had a tough time handling the movement and physicality of Haaland like the rest of the defence. AFP -
Jesús Navas – 3. Looked to cause problems down the right-hand side against his former club, however nothing which caused any danger. Getty Images -
Sevilla's Jesus Navas (left) and Manchester City's Bernardo Silva battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League Group G match at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain. Picture date: Tuesday September 6, 2022. -
Nemanja Gudelj – 2. Was outclassed by the away side's midfield and struggled in the first half bringing the ball forward with no physical presence up top. AP Photo -
Thomas Delaney – 2. Wasn’t a great performance from the Dane who was hooked off at half time by manager Julen Lopetegui. AFP -
Alex Telles – 3. Performed okay considering he was in a more further forward role than he is used to, but not the Manchester United loanee’s most memorable outing. AFP -
Ivan Rakitić – 2. Struggled to bring any kind of creativity into the match for Sevilla, an off day for the former Barcelona man who came off at half time. EPA -
Papu Gómez – 4. His pace offered a threat in the final third but going forward his side created little. EPA -
Isco- 3. The Spaniard tried dropping deeper at times to get into the game and create some attacks. However, City's pressing proved too much for him. AFP -
SUBS: Kasper Dolberg – 4. Came on for Telles in the 56th minute, created a few half chances but nothing to scare City. AFP -
Luca De La Torre – 3. Replaced Gomez in the 73rd minute, struggled to make an impact on the game. Getty Images -
Joan Jordán – 5. Subbed on for Delaney at half time, added some much-needed energy into his side’s midfield but didn’t affect the outcome of the match. Getty Images -
Adnan Januzaj – N/A. Replaced Isco in the 78th minute, was too late to turn his sides fortunes with them being 3-0 down. AFP -
Rafa Mir – 6. Came on for Rakitic at half time, he gave Sevilla a physical presence up top which helped the Spanish side but struggled to have any real chances. AP Photo -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson – 7. A quiet day at the office for Ederson, who spent most of the game watching his side playing in the opponent’s half. Getty Images -
Sergio Gómez – 8. Didn’t have too much to do defensively, however, brought energy coming forward and looked bright going down the left. AP Photo -
Rúben Dias – 9. Will be pleased with another clean sheet for his side and topped it off by making it 4-0 in the dying embers at point blank range. Getty Images -
Manuel Akanji – 8. An impressive debut for the Swiss defender despite not having too much to do, looked comfortable in possession and settled into the side already. Getty Images -
João Cancelo – 8. Defensively didn’t face any problems and was able to create numerous chances going forward down the right. Reuters -
Bernardo Silva – 7. Looked assured in the midfield and a composed performance which Pep Guardiola will be happy with. AP Photo -
Rodri – 8. Played a key role in not giving the Sevilla midfield a look-in all match. His physical presence in the middle of the park caused problems for Sevilla. AFP -
Kevin De Bruyne – 9. A routine assist for the Belgian who is beginning to form a dangerous connection with Haaland, who was on the end of the midfielder's cross to make it 1-0. PA -
Jack Grealish – 8. Was effective cutting in from the left-hand side, overall, a decent showing after a spell out the team with injury. PA -
Phil Foden – 9. Showed great composure for his goal in the second half which was a fine finish. Was a threat all match making dangerous runs down the right. Getty Images -
Erling Haaland – 10. Added another two goals to his prolific Champions League scoring record with yet another excellent performance. His physicality and poacher's instinct proved too much for the Sevilla defence. EPA -
SUBS: Ilkay Gundogan – 7. Subbed on for Grealish in the 62nd minute, it was steady cruising after he came on with his side 2-0 up and wasn’t left with much to do .AP Photo -
Julián Álvarez – N/A. Subbed on for Haaland in the 71st minute, provided some pressing with his fresh legs on the opposition defence. Getty Images -
Cole Palmer – N/A. Came on for Foden in the 71st minute, the youngster looked a constant threat when on and almost got on the scoresheet late on. Getty Images -
Kalvin Phillips – 7. Replaced Rodri on 78 minutes, played some exceptional long-distance diagonal passes from the midfield while his side looked to put the tie to bed. AFP -
Riyad Mahrez – N/A. Replaced De Bruyne on 78 minutes, went through the motions with his team cruising. Getty Images
Dortmund signed Sebastien Haller, from Ajax, as a replacement; Haller was then diagnosed with testicular cancer and, though hopeful of a full recovery, he will be out of action for several months.
Karim Adeyemi, the Germany international who, like the teenage Haaland had impressed at RB Salzburg, was also brought in. He has been hampered by injury. On transfer deadline day, Dortmund waved a sudden goodbye to centre-back Manuel Akanji, bought by City for €17m and among three players from the fabled Dortmund production line who could face their former club this evening.
The other is Ilkay Gundogan, whose Dortmund career coincided with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic, some of the many for whom the club has been a springboard.
Haaland, the latest gifted ex-Dortmund forward, has moved on with more immediate impact than any of those. “The numbers speak for themselves,” said Gundogan of 22-year-old Haaland’s ratio of a goal every 46 minutes for City in Premier League and Champions League.
Gallery: Haaland at Dortmund
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Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates scoring against Greuther Furth in the Bundesliga in December, 2021. AP -
Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland scores against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga in April, 2022. Reuters -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring a penalty in the Bundesliga match against Mainz in October, 2021. AP -
Erling Haaland scores against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga match in November, 2021. Reuters -
Dortmund forward Erling Haaland celebrates against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga match in April, 2022. AFP -
Dortmund forward Erling Haaland scores a penalty in the Bundesliga match against Mainz in October, 2021. AFP -
Erling Haaland celebrates after Marvin Friedrich of Union Berlin scored an own goal during the Bundesliga match in September, 2021. Getty -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates scoring from the penalty spot in the Bundesliga match against VfL Bochum in April 2022. EPA -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates after the Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg in April, 2022. EPA -
Erling Haaland scores for Dortmund in the Bundesliga match against Freiburg in January, 2022. Getty -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates after the Bundesliga match against Mainz in March, 2022. EPA -
Erling Haaland scores for Dortmund in the Bundesliga match against Stuttgart in April, 2022. The goal was disallowed for offside. Getty -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates scoring in the Bundesliga match against Freiburg in January, 2022. AFP -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland scores against Freiburg during the Bundesliga match in January, 2022. AP -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring against Besiktas in the Champions League in December 2021. EPA -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates with teammates after scoring in the Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich in December, 2021. AFP -
Dortmund forward Erling Haaland scores from the spot during the Bundesliga match against VfL Bochum in April, 2022. AFP -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring during the Bundesliga match against Union Berlin in September, 2021. AP -
Dortmund forward Erling Haaland scores during the Bundesliga match against Greuther Furth in December, 2021. AFP -
Erling Haaland of Dortmund celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga match against Union Berlin in September, 2021. Getty -
Dortmund forward Erling Haaland scores during the Champions League match against Besiktas in December, 2021. AFP -
Erling Haaland celebrates scoring for Dortmund against Union Berlin during the Bundesliga match in September, 2021. Getty -
Dortmund's Erling Haaland scores during the Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim in January, 2022. AP
“The club have signed an incredible player on the pitch, and, with his character, determination and attitude off the pitch. For such a young boy, he is very mature and his future is very bright.”
Adapting from Bundesliga to Premier League, as Gundogan did after joining City as manager Pep Guardiola’s first personally-recommended signing in 2016, presents special challenges.
“It’s different and maybe the games against Dortmund will be more open than we have been used to here, where teams are defensively strong,” added Gundogan. “That is something to adapt to and Erling has already shown he can. It’s about patience and trying to punish other teams.”
As for the Champions League, where City and Dortmund share the early leadership of Group G, Haaland may well be the addition that propels City, finalists in 2021 and semi-finalists five months ago, to the prize that still eludes them. “We hope so,” Gundogan said. “Sometimes little details decide the outcome. Having a proper number nine is going to help us a lot.”
