The Champions League is Erling Haaland's stage! Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are gone and the Man City striker is set to rule the competition for years to come

Footballers talk of winning the Champions League as a dream come true, but for Erling Haaland it was not so much a dream as an objective he set out to achieve. You could even call it an obsession.

"I have been dreaming and thinking of it my whole life. It has been my dream as long as I can remember, so a long time," he told reporters the week before the final.

Haaland's fascination with the competition began seven years old when he watched his first Champions League final in 2008, between Manchester United and Chelsea. As United danced in the Moscow rain after beating Chelsea in a penalty shootout, the young Norwegian, watching on TV in his hometown of Bryne, wanted a piece of the action.

"When I saw the celebrations I wanted to do that as well. I am getting closer and closer," he added.

Haaland's love for the Champions League continued into adulthood and when he was at RB Salzburg he was filmed driving around the Austrian city with the anthem blaring out of his stereo.

Haaland was asked about his peculiar car song of choice in the build-up to the final. "I'll say it again, I love this competition and I like it and I enjoy it. That's why," he said. "And it's also a really nice song."

Haaland was prolific in his first experience of European football, scoring four goals in five Europa League qualifiers with Norwegian side Molde, his second club.

His next move, to Salzburg, allowed him to play in the competition he craved. And his debut could hardly have gone better. He scored in just the second minute of his Champions League debut against Genk and by half-time he had completed his hat-trick in a stunning 6-2 win.

His second game in the competition was a dream trip to Anfield and he also got on the scoresheet by completing a stunning fightback for Jesse Marsch's side, who came from 3-0 down to level things up, only for Mohamed Salah to find a late winner and make it 4-3.

Haaland continued to net in his next two Champions League matches, home and away to Napoli, and also struck against Genk. The only game he failed to score in during the group stage was the final home game against Liverpool, where his side lost 2-0 and exited the competition.

Haaland had already outgrown Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund pounced, beating Manchester United to his signature in January 2020. His first game for the German side in the Champions League was against Paris Saint-Germain and he did not disappoint, scoring twice and celebrating with his meditation pose.

That seemed to anger Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and PSG's players mimicked the celebration when they won 2-0 in an empty second leg to knock Dortmund out.

Haaland continued where he had left off the following season, though, scoring six times in Dortmund's first four group stage games before suffering a muscle injury. He recovered for the last-16 and made up for lost time by scoring twice in each game against Sevilla. Even in empty stadiums as the coronavirus pandemic continued, Haaland was taking centre stage.

Dortmund were paired with City in the quarter-finals and, in the first instance of what was to become a very familiar sight, Haaland scored at the Etihad Stadium. But he could not prevent Dortmund from losing the first or second leg to Guardiola's side.

Last season Haaland suffered badly with injuries and was only able to play three matches in the Champions League. Typically, he still managed to average a goal every game, netting away to Besiktas and scoring twice in a 5-0 romp over the Turkish side in Dortmund.

By then Dortmund had already been knocked out of the group stage, and the fact that Haaland was absent for half of their matches is surely no coincidence.

Haaland continued his love affair with the Champions League in his first European outing for City, scoring twice to down Sevilla 4-0. As fate would have it, his first home European game for his new club was against his old club.

And it was against Dortmund that he scored one of his best goals ever, an outrageous, kung-fu-like volley to win the match 2-1.

Haaland struck twice more against Copenhagen before injury struck, but he ended the group stage on five goals despite only playing 250 minutes of football, averaging a goal every 50 minutes.

And in the knockout stage he made Champions League history against RB Leipzig, becoming the first player to score five goals in a knockout match since Lionel Messi for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012. Haaland might well have broken the record had he not been substituted in the 63rd minute.

The Norwegian scored in each game of City's quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich, also missing a penalty in the away leg. The only disappointing note of his campaign for City was the fact that he did not manage to score in either game against Real Madrid. But with City winning the second leg 4-0 in one of the most dominant performances in a Champions League semi-final, it mattered little.

While City had got to a Champions League final in 2021 without Haaland, the Norwegian was undoubtedly the final piece of the jigsaw and he has made them even more formidable. Indeed, when City faced Chelsea in the 2021 final in Porto, they lined up without a striker, with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus only coming off the bench late in the game.

As City prepare to face Inter, Haaland will be their main weapon. And Guardiola was not even willing to engage with a question on the eve of the match about the fact his striker has been struggling to score in his last few matches.

"I'm not here to discuss the average for Haaland scoring goals. If you have doubts about that you are a lonely person," Guardiola said. "I don't have doubts, tomorrow he will be ready to help us win the Champions League."

That final line was telling, the coach underlining Haaland's crucial role in City's quest to win the one trophy they are lacking.

Haaland has not shied away from that fact and he again spoke about it in the run-up to the final while addressing reporters at the club's media day.

"Take an example, the Premier League, they won it two times in a row before I came here. So they know how to win the Premier League," he said. "The only thing they miss now is the Champions League, you can think and read between the words, and the lines, I have been coming here for a reason."

For some players, the responsibility of trying to win City the one trophy that has evaded their clutches would be a big burden. Haaland admitted he felt responsibility. But he also takes it in his stride.

“Of course I feel pressure. I would lie if I said I didn’t. You say it yourself and it’s true — they won the Premier League without me, they won every trophy without me. So I’m here to try to do a thing that the club has never done before and I’ll do my best," he said.

The Norwegian has already been lifting the gigantic trophy in his head: "Of course I have been thinking of this," he said.

Asked what that would mean, he added: "It would mean everything, of course."