Manchester CIty striker Erling Haaland has claimed that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had "the perfect rivalry", as he claimed the competition between the pair was a good thing amid his comparisons with Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.
Norway's failure to qualify for the World Cup has meant that Haaland has spent the last month resting and recharging his batteries ahead of the second-half of the season. Pep Guardiola's side restart their campaign with a Carabao Cup clash against Liverpool on Thursday night, before a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds on December 28 sees them return to Premier League action.
Haaland's form will be pivotal to to City's success as the forward looks to continue a scoring record that so few could possibly match. Mbappe is perhaps the only other striker who could go toe-to-toe with the Norwegian, with the Frenchman scoring a sensational hat-trick in his country's World Cup final defeat to Argentina.
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The pair have been tipped by many to replace Messi and Ronaldo as the next great rivalry, yet the 22-year-old was coy when asked about the comparisons between himself and Mbappe.
He told Norwegian outlet Viaplay : "It's impossible to say. I don't like to compare myself with others. I think you need to be your own player when it comes to that so I don't like to compare or anything with that.
"I think the media has been doing that with Ronaldo and Messi for the last 10 years and I think they've been pushing each other as well. I think it's been a positive thing. Barcelona and Madrid against each other. It's been the perfect rivalry.
"But I don't think about this, honestly."
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