Third against first. The top game of the Premier League on Sunday (March 31, 2024, from 5:30 p.m. in the Sportschau Livecenter) between Manchester City and Arsenal FC is not just a duel between two championship favorites in England (match report in the Sportschau on Erste from 7:15 p.m.). The two best Norwegian footballers currently meet – and their path to the top couldn’t have been more different.
On the one hand Martin Odegaard, captain and playmaker (6 goals, 6 assists in the current Premier League season) of the Gunners, on the other “goal machine” Erling Haaland (18 goals in the league) at City.
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Odegaard’s story began in 2015. At 17, he was the great promise of world football. Everyone wanted this dynamic dribbler with the fine left foot, including FC Bayern with coach Pep Guardiola. But Odegaard rose to the top and chose Real Madrid as his first professional stop abroad.
Odegaard in Madrid: Big contract, small reputation
What seemed like a really big step turned out to be very difficult years of learning. In a total of six years of contract with the “Royal”, Odegaard ended up making just eleven competitive appearances. In between: Loans to SC Heerenveen, Vitesse Arnheim, Real Sociedad San Sebastian and FC Arsenal. When Odegaard played his first really good professional season in 2018/19 after three years in the Dutch provinces with Vitesse Arnhem (39 appearances, 11 goals, 13 assists), Haaland, who was two years younger, really began to draw attention to himself.
At Molde FK, as an 18-year-old, he scored 16 times in 30 competitive games. In January 2019, we quickly moved on to RB Salzburg and there, too, Haaland simply continued to score goal after goal. In late summer, the striker scored three goals on his debut in the Champions League. From this point on, Haaland was a constant goalscorer in the premier class. Odegaard only got to know this competition a year later and only during two appearances in San Sebastian.
Comparison Odegaard – Haaland Martin Odegaard (Arsenal FC) Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Alter
25 years 23 years
Professional debut
13.04.14
12.05.16
Competitive match record
357 appearances (64 goals, 63 assists) 270 appearances (216 goals, 51 assists)
in the club since
January 2021 July 2022
title
English Super Cup (2023), Spanish Cup (2020), UEFA Super Cup (2017) European Footballer of the Year (2023), Champions League Winner (2023), Club World Champion (2023), English Champion (2023), English Cup Winner ( 2023), German Cup Winner (2021), Austrian Champion (2019), Austrian Cup Winner (2019)
Odegaard’s “savior” comes from Spain
In 2020 it finally looked as if the careers of the two Norwegians were diverging. While Haaland continued to produce goals on the assembly line at Borussia Dortmund, Odegaard was back in Madrid. But there were no more than a few sporadic appearances with the star ensemble. Most of the time the playmaker didn’t even make it into the squad.
Then came January 2021. Haaland was taking a break in Dortmund with a torn muscle fiber, but had scored six of BVB’s nine CL goals by the time he was forced to take a break. His hype continued. Compatriot Odegaard pondered in Madrid. Then came the request from Arsenal FC. Mikel Arteta, who had just been head coach of the Gunners for a year, wanted to build a team around him and the Norwegian. The club was finally found where Odegaard’s strengths were needed.
Indispensable for Arsenal: Martin Odegaard
Odegaard steers in London, Haaland refines in Manchester
Close control of the ball, secure possession of the ball, an eye for depth and, above all, the better positioned teammate: Odegaard became Arteta’s guide for Arsenal’s short passing game. Just a year later, when Odegaard was 23, the Spanish coach made him captain. While Haaland refined the assists of the other stars at Manchester City, Odegaard led a young team of highly gifted players to the top of the Premier League with an armband on their arm. He had finally arrived.
In 2023, Haaland and City Arsenal were still at the top of the table in the final spurt. Now, on matchday 30 of the 2023/24 season, the North Londoners are back at the top. Only a point ahead of City, but the signs seem to have changed. Arsenal have won all eight Premier League games since the start of the year. No team had ever achieved this in the club’s history. The goal difference during this time: an outstanding 33:4 goals.
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Time for a “change of power”?
Even in close games like in the Champions League round of 16 against FC Porto (victory on penalties) or most recently in the league against FC Brentford (2-1 winning goal by Kai Havertz in the final phase), the still young team keeps its nerve .
And very important: the city curse is broken. Since 2020, Arsenal had lost eight competitive games in a row against Guardiola’s team. The last two duels went to Odegaard’s team. In the Community Shield, the English Super Cup, Arsenal won on penalties and the first leg in the league 1-0. Perhaps the “change of power” is taking place – in English club football and possibly also in the importance of the two Norwegian star players.
Match report Manchester City – FC Arsenal, Sunday, March 31, 2024 from 7:15 p.m. in the Sportschau im Erste with presenter Lea Wagner.