"Going to take over the sport for the next decade" - Twitter goes wild as fans believe Erling Haaland-Kylian Mbappe rivalry could eclipse Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo era

Football fans are optimistic about Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland's chances of reaching or even going beyond Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's legendary rivalry.

The veteran duo are widely regarded as arguably the best players ever to play the game. They have won 12 Ballons d'Or between them, with Messi winning seven to Ronaldo's five.

They have won almost every trophy available to them, at the club and international levels. The Portuguese forward is football's all-time highest goalscorer with 815 goals for club and country while the Argentine is third with 773 goals.

They are now in the twilight of their careers, with Ronaldo now 37 and Messi 35.

Many believe that even getting close to the legendary duo's era will be impossible for upcoming players. However, Mbappe and Haaland have shown immense ability to rival each other in recent years and fans could see them potentially challenging the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry in the future.

They were on fire again last night (September 6) in the Champions League group stages for their respective teams.

The Frenchman scored both goals in Paris Saint-Germain's 2-1 win over Juventus at the Parc des Princes.

The Norwegian also scored a brace for Manchester City in their 4-0 win over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

After the two matches, fans took to Twitter to share their excitement at seeing the duo perform consistently at such high levels. Here are some reactions:

Mbappe, 23, has already scored 212 goals in 288 club matches for PSG and AS Monaco.

Haaland, 21, meanwhile, has scored 147 goals in 191 club matches for the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg and now Manchester City.

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Haaland breaks Mbappe's UCL record as new rivalry after Ronaldo-Messi era heats up

Cristiano Ronaldo is the Champions League's all-time top scorer with 140 goals while Lionel Messi is second with 125 goals.

Although these records look infallible at the moment, Haaland and Mbappe might feel they have a good chance at breaking them.

With his brace against Sevilla, the Norwegian became the youngest player to reach 25 goals in Europe's elite competition at 22 years and 47 days. He broke the previous record held by the Frenchman, who achieved the feat when he was 22 years and 50 days old.

The PSG man now has 35 goals in 54 matches in the competition, while the Manchester City forward has 25 goals in 20 matches.

If Haaland and Mbappe continue at this rate, they can surely rival the Ronaldo vs. Messi era.