The best free-kick ever? Hakan Calhanoglu's 41m rocket vs Borussia Dortmund | OneFootball

Hakan Calhanoglu’s debut season at Inter Milan went pretty well.

While the Turkish playmaker was unable to get his hands on the Serie A title, something AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic brutally mocked him for, he racked up some pretty impressive numbers.

In his 34 Series A appearances during the 2021/22 campaign, Calhanoglu scored seven goals and assisted a further 13 – a mighty fine return.

He also netted a magnificent pressure penalty in Inter’s 4-2 Coppa Italia final victory over Juventus, which we reported on HERE.

But one thing Calhanoglu was unable to do in his first season representing the blue half of Milan was score directly from a free-kick.

The 28-year-old is renowned as a set-piece specialist and regularly receives a 90+ rating for free-kick taking on EA Sports’ FIFA franchise.

In the 2012/13 season with Karlsruhe SC, Calhanoglu bagged seven goals from dead-ball situations.

He followed that up by adding four more to his collection with Hamburg in 2013/14 and one of those is arguably the greatest free-kick ever scored.

During a resounding 3-0 win over Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, Calhanoglu somehow rippled the back of the net from a distance of 41 metres.

The Turkey international was so far away from the goal that Dortmund didn’t even bother setting up a wall.

Such was the power and accuracy on the vicious shot that Roman Weidenfeller – who had a perfect view of the ball from the moment it left the right boot – got absolutely nowhere near it.

Check out the set-piece masterpiece from Calhanoglu…

Video: Calhanoglu’s 41m free-kick vs Dortmund in 2013/14

It shouldn’t be possible for a human being to strike a football like that – absolutely absurd from Calhanoglu.

Like everyone else inside the stadium and those watching from the comfort of their homes, Klopp couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed.

Calhanoglu spent just one season at Hamburg before joining Bayer Leverkusen, where he continued to dazzle from set-piece situations.

In 2014/15, he scored a whopping nine free-kicks, including a swerving stunner against Bayern Munich which left Manuel Neuer bamboozled.

Video: Calhanoglu’s sublime effort vs Bayern in 2014/15

The guy is a true free-kick master and it’s surely only a matter of time before he records his first in an Inter jersey.

Simone Inzaghi’s side will be desperate to win back the Serie A title next season after losing out to AC Milan in 2021/22.

They’ve already bolstered their squad with some impressive signings in the form of Romelu Lukaku, Andre Onana and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The 2022/23 Serie A title campaign looks set to be another enthralling edition.

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