Since the start of this season, Sébastien Haller has been in the form of his life. A dream came true for him five months ago with Ajax Amsterdam. “I really wanted to play in the Champions League at least once,” said the former Eintracht Frankfurt striker, who joined Ajax from West Ham United for €22m in January 2021. “And then I quickly realized what a special competition the premier class is. I have the feeling that these games inspire me somehow.”
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In fact, Haller scored a whopping ten goals in the six games in the group stage. He leads the scorer list ahead of Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski (9) and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (8). Haller made history with four goals in his very first game (at Sporting Lisbon) in the competition – not even Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo could do it before him. He also scored once in each of the two duels against Borussia Dortmund and thus played a major role in BVB’s bitter defeat in the preliminary round.
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On Wednesday (9 p.m., DAZN) the leader of the Dutch Eredivisie is suddenly even a favorite in the round of 16 first leg at Benfica Lisbon – also because of Haller. The goalscorer says confidently: “It could certainly have hit us harder in the draw. We have big goals and we can beat any opponent with our carelessness, enthusiasm and passion. The quality of the squad is very high, a great one is developing here team. We are hot for success.”
A year and a half ago and after careful consideration, the attacker, who was born in the Paris suburb of Ris-Orangis, made a surprising decision: instead of waiting for the call from France national coach Didier Deschamps, he accepted the Ivorian association – probably also because his great idol Didier Drogba was tough had fought for him. And so Haller made his first appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, but was eliminated with the Ivory Coast in the round of 16 against Egypt and returned earlier than expected from Cameroon, where he says he feels “perfect”.
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“I’ve been overjoyed since I’ve been at Ajax. I’m needed and valued here. That wasn’t always the case in my career like it was at West Ham recently. In hindsight, going to Ajax was the best decision I could have made,” Haller said. Ajax coach Erik ten Hag, the former coach of FC Bayern’s second team, raves about his goalscorer: “Seb is incredibly accurate. Not only is he physically strong and extremely aggressive in duels, he’s also ice cold in front of the opposing goal.”
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With the Serbian Dusan Tadic and the Brazilian child prodigy Antony on the wings, he forms a trio that is almost reminiscent of the legendary Frankfurt “buffalo herd”, in which Haller caused a sensation together with Ante Rebic and Luka Jovic and led the club to the cup victory in 2018 and led to Europe.
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With 20 goals in the group stage, Ajax were the most accurate eleven in the premier class behind Bayern Munich, ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool – but the round of 16 is far from the end of the line. Haller even dreams of a really big coup: “So far in my career I’ve only won the championship title last season. I also switched to Ajax to win a few more trophies.” He would certainly like the trophy with the big ears as well.
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