Haaland aims to play before full capacity crowd: "We've been craving this for two years."
His swollen ankle notwithstanding, Erling Haaland made clear that he didn't want to miss out on 81,365 fans at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday evening.
In a brief interview with BVB-TV, Norwegian super-striker Erling Haaland gave a fairly prosaic update on his swollen ankle on Friday.
"My ankle still hurts, but it's feeling better," the star attacker noted, "We'll have to see how I feel tomorrow."
The 21-year-old did emphasize that the first full capacity crowd he's had a chance to play in front of for over two years served as a motivational factor for him.
"To play at home in front of a full stadium for the first time in a long time would be absolutely super," he said with a glint in his eyes, "We've been craving this for two years. It makes a huge difference."
To put matters in perspective, Haaland actually only had the chance to play in front of a Dortmund capacity crowd six times before the onset of global lockdown in March 2020.
Many football watchers may note with something of a chuckle that the striker has had a chance to grow a full mane of hair since the last time he experienced the full range of what his current club's supporters have to offer.
Many BVB youngsters--Jude Bellingham and Giovanni Reyna, for instance--have never had a chance to experience a full BVB crowd. The same applies to pandemic-times acquisitions lockdown such as Donyell Malen.
"It will be a tough game because Leipzig are really good," the former RB Salzburg man noted, "but we've always played well against them in the past."
😍 Endlich wieder Feiertag! Und zwar ein richtiger, mit über 80.000 Fans im schönsten Stadion der Welt! 🏟 #BVBLeipzig
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) April 1, 2022
Und das #Feiertagsmagazin? Gibt's hier!
👉 https://t.co/7K89CbMuhr 👈