TIME FOR REVENGE
HAALAND: CITY STRIKER OUT TO SILENCE HIS CRITICS
Guardiola hoping his star will hit his straps in Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid.
Manchester City are closing in on a second consecutive treble, yet Erling Haaland is still facing criticism as Real Madrid visit the Etihad tonight aiming to exact revenge for their Champions League exit last season.
The 14-time European champions were humbled 4-0 on their visit to Manchester 11 months ago at the semifinal stage as City went on to win the Champions League for the first time, along with the Premier League and FA Cup.
Pep Guardiola’s men are 12 games away from repeating that remarkable feat even without their prolific Norwegian hitting
the form he did last season.
Haaland’s return of 31 goals in 38 games this season is still impressive, but he has not scored in City’s three meetings with Madrid in the past year and failed to find the net in 13 of his last 20 matches for club and country.
The 23-year-old has also been in the firing line for not offering anything other than goals.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled Haaland the “ultimate luxury player” who is yet to become “world-class”.
Ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane, infamously sentoff in a Manchester derby for a pre-meditated lunge on Haaland’s father Alf-Inge due to a long-running feud, went even further by claiming the City striker’s holdup play resembles that of a player in England’s League Two.
The Spanish press have been just as harsh after Haaland failed to fire for a second consecutive year at the Santiago Bernabeu in a thrilling first leg that ended 3-3 last week.
His performance was described by Madrid sports daily
Marca as “impotent”, while AS called him “clumsy and desperate” in his attempts to get the better of Antonio Rudiger.
Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti will not repeat the same mistake of dropping Rudiger for the second leg as he did last season after the German had kept Haaland quiet in the Bernabeu.
City manager Guardiola has been protective of his star striker, pointing to both his record and the collective success of his side in Haaland’s two seasons at the club.
The English champions have lifted the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup already this season with more silverware likely.
City hold a two-point lead at the top of the Premier League with six games to play and face Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday.
However, it is by helping to retain the Champions League that Haaland can make a global statement in his bid to win the Ballon d’Or – the annual award for the world’s best player.