Watching Haaland, I've been reminded of why Messi is special and almost unprecedented in the history of the game. Haaland is scoring at a ridiculous rate but you can sort of see how he does it. He's bigger, stronger and faster than his opponents, has great movement and he lives in the penalty area. Ronaldo at his most prolific was similar, you could understand how he scored so much even though you could also appreciate how difficult it was to be that consistent.
With Mess, there's a kind of bewildering element to him because it's not clear how someone that small and so far fromm being an out and out striker can score so many goals. It's like a magic trick. The only other example I can think of is Pele, and it's still not quite the same because Pele was an astonishing athlete in a way that Messi is not.