Il Manchester City qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals thanks to the 3-1 victory in Copenhagen. Erling Haaland he failed to score but won the cover of the evening for the acrobatic feat he showed off, performing a ‘Martian’ jump to hit the ball in a scissor kick.
De Bruyne, Bernard Silva e The foot the authors of the goals that tamed the Danes’ pride and transformed the return for the reigning champions into a formality. But it is the Scandinavian who took the breath away of opponents, teammates, the public in the stands and at home: the feeling was that he had taken off, was hovering in the air supported by who knows what vital breath. “He looked like an NBA player”this is how Billy Costacurta commented on that athletic gesture to Sky.
There was everything in that play: coordination, physical strength, power in the take-off and sense of position, the ability to sense the right moment and detect the direction of the ball. “My goodness! He has a truly unique playing speed”, was the comment of Fabio Capello. And it doesn’t matter that the aim and trajectory weren’t the best (the ball ended up high above the goal) but it’s impossible not to admire that attempt.
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How far did Haaland jump from the ground? In the study of the satellite network they calculated that he took off and then kicked the ball with his left foot 2.17 meters from the ground. A monstrous play that recalled what was done by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018, when assisted by Carvajal he climbed into the sky and reached the point of impact at 2.23 meters (2.37, according to Spanish newspapers who glorified that action as if it were a divine act, focusing attention on the moment of touch with the right foot ) performing a historic overhead kick, drawing applause from the Turin public who would welcome him in black and white a few months later.
“Only a player with superpowers can jump that high and hit the ball”, Kim Kallström, commentator on the Scandinavian TV MTV Urheilu, let slip. When Haaland’s left foot touched the ball, he was 2.34 meters above the level of the pitch.
It’s a shame he missed the goal. This season he has already made 73 in 79 appearances since he arrived at City from Borussia Dortmund. He is currently the Premier League’s top scorer with 16 goals, despite missing almost two months of the campaign through injury.