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As the two forwards prepare to meet at Der Klassiker, the BVB official has said that the pair should not weigh each other.
Erling Haaland is “almost obsessed with success,” but comparing him to Robert Lewandowski doesn’t make sense, according to Michael Zorc.
Two of Europe’s most feared forwards face off on Saturday when Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Lewandowski was the top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues last season, scoring 51 goals to propel Bayern to a triple win, and setting a Bundesliga record by scoring 10 goals in the first five matchdays of 2020-21.
Haaland, meanwhile, has scored five goals in as many Bundesliga appearances this season from a total of 15 shots. That puts the Dortmund forward’s shot conversion rate at 29.4, slightly behind Lewandowski’s 34.5, but he has scored 66.7 percent of his certified big chances this period, a figure better than that of Lewandowski (58.3).
Haaland is 12 years younger than Lewandowski and Dortmund sporting director Zorc feels it is too early to compare the two, although the 20-year-old’s determination to succeed appears to lead him to reach similar standards.
“They are different types of players. They score a lot of goals, but they have a different age,” Zorc told reporters before Klassiker.
“We are happy to have Erling. He is not only good for us because of the goals, but also because he radiates a will to improve all the time.
“He’s almost obsessed with success. The comparisons are for journalists and experts, not for us.”
Head coach Lucien Favre believes Haaland is important in terms of not conceding goals, not just scoring them.
Dortmund conceded 44 Bundesliga goals in Favre’s first season in charge, which improved to 41 in 2019-20. They also kept 15 clean sheets last quarter compared to 10 this previous season.
They faced fewer shots on goal (106) than in 2018-19 (134), something Favre says is due to better defense by the entire team, as they attempt to set a Bundesliga record of five consecutive clean sheets.
“We were good in the first year, we didn’t concede many goals in the first half of the season, but now we are doing better,” he said.
“What matters is that we all defend. A team has to defend together, that starts with the striker. It is the whole team that has to do it.”
Bayern have won all three competitive matches against Dortmund with Hansi Flick, including the DFL-Supercup in September, when they triumphed 3-2.
Sure enough, they ended Dortmund’s title hopes in May with a 1-0 win at Signal Iduna Park, courtesy of Joshua Kimmich’s sublime chip, but BVB felt aggrieved. Haaland did not receive a penalty when a shot struck Jerome Boateng’s arm in the area.
“I think the attraction is always very great. We saw that the last two games were close, with only one goal to solve both,” said Zorc.
“We lost the last home game to a blatantly bad decision. That is indisputable. We are confident in ourselves and want to put everything in the mix tomorrow to win.”
