To those who are on the mentality of ‘‘What does Haaland have to do to win it?’’ It’s being a better player than arguably the best player oat in a year with good stats + remarkable playmaking and an all timer World Cup.

However ruthlessly efficient Haaland can be he will always be at least a tad in disadvantage to a player who can move you with their game. I can see him taking a lot of B’Dors home in the next few years so long as the more skillful/complete players, Mbappe being the prime contender for that competition.

Of course big games also matter and while I think Haaland vs Arsenal was his best game by far of the season his contribution in the CLKOs quieted down from the second round of QFs when people and major voters start really scrutinizing performances.

All in all I’d put Rodri above Haaland for the year and not because of his CL winning goal but rather how absolutely key and irreplaceable he has become in a team that used to seemingly always win regardless of who’d play.