Pep Guardiola stated that Man City must have special care for Erling Haaland, even if it means he will have fewer scoring opportunities.
In the match at Slovan Bratislava during the second round of the Champions League 2024/25, Man City secured a convincing 4-0 victory. The goals for the defending Premier League champions came from Gundogan, Foden, Haaland, and McAtee.
Notably, Haaland left the field immediately after scoring to make it 3-0. The striker had a lengthy discussion with Guardiola after the match, leading many to speculate about their relationship.
However, the Spanish manager addressed the rumors to clarify the situation. He mentioned that Man City wanted to keep Haaland on the field as long as possible, but they had to consider the demanding match schedule. Given that the Norwegian had endured a physically taxing match at St James’ Park last weekend, he needed extra rest.
“Erling is never disappointed with his coach!” Guardiola began. “As a coach, I feel safer and happier when Erling is on the field.”
“I would keep him on the field all the time, but with a score of 3-0, the game was almost over. With this number of matches, we have to take care of him. Erling had a tough physical battle in the previous match against Newcastle, which is why we took him off early in this match.”
With his goal against Slovan Bratislava, Haaland has now scored 42 goals in the Champions League in just 41 matches, surpassing legend Sergio Aguero in the all-time scoring list for Man City. Additionally, Haaland has climbed to 20th place in the list of the highest scorers in Champions League history.