There’s no stopping ruthless Haaland
Striker scores two more as City cruise to victory
Pep Guardiola always places great weight on the first two group games of the Champions league, whoever the opposition. Win them and the rest is relatively serene.
That attitude has served them well over his time, never failing to reach the last 16. The problems are saved for a little later in the competition.
So while this looked a breeze from fairly early on, Manchester City left nothing to chance, and maybe last night offered a glimpse at what Guardiola views as his best attacking cohort for the bigger matches moving forward. The trio worked.
We will get to erling Haaland. He scored another couple, obviously. The evening again belonged to him. But the two englishman either side of him, phil Foden and Jack Grealish, came away with significant credit too.
Both were exceptional as inverted wingers, ably backed by the traditional full backs in tow. City, who took all the heat out of an area affectionately known as the frying pan of Spain, were more symmetrical. Smoother, if that is possible.
Guardiola admitted after the draw at aston Villa over the weekend that they had missed Grealish and evidence came of that when beating Sevilla. More control in possession, for starters — crucial when encounters such as this stay tight for far longer than they should.
enter Haaland. The sky might fall in when he eventually leaves a pitch without at least one to his name. Two more for the collection, now 12 in seven games for City, that takes him to 25 in the Champions league.
Those have come in 20 appearances. Nobody — not record holder Cristiano ronaldo, not lionel Messi — has posted those numbers. No wonder the local newspapers carried headlines ‘El Coco’ — loosely translated to the Bogeyman — and ‘a monster is coming to see you’.
Guardiola spoke glowingly of Sevilla on the eve of the game, saying that he would love to have their history in european competition given the four europa league trophies in the locker since 2014. City’s only piece of silverware on the continent came 52 years ago, the Cup-winners’ Cup, although their progression in the premier club competition over the Catalan’s tenure has been encouraging.
despite their pedigree, Sevilla’s start to this season has been less than impressive — three defeats and a draw leaving them in la liga’s relegation zone and Julen lopetegui fearing for his job.
devoid of confidence, they were never going to aggressively press City in quite the way that their team bus did earlier in the night, arriving outside the stadium seconds after their visitors. Some of Guardiola’s squad had not clambered off the coach by the time Sevilla disembarked, the gathering crowds unsure whether to cheer or jeer. in the end, they did neither with great gusto.
inside it was a bit different. This old place rocks like few others, hostile with bite after the passionate rendition of the club’s anthem. Sevilla were lifted for it, briefly forcing City full debutants
Manuel akanji and Sergio Gomez into difficult areas, but by the time of the opener in the 20th minute, this resembled attack versus defence. Following a real schooling, lopetegui’s team endured a piercing din and white hankerchiefs at full-time.
The scary thing about Haaland’s first goal was the telepathy struck up so quickly with Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian ran on to Foden’s delicate, perfectly-weighted pass beyond the defence, took one glance across the six-yard box and there arrived a diving limb, Haaland’s left leg. The goal was so simplistic yet almost impossible to stop, so easy yet so clever.
Foden had earlier appealed for a penalty when barged away by Marcos acuna, while Haaland flicked another de Bruyne cross wide. if Guardiola had any complaints, it was that they were not leading by more, because Sevilla had retreated to such an extent that retaining the ball in a dangerous area was proving too much. it mattered little but de Bruyne was guilty of missing a huge chance when set free by Haaland as the pair broke at pace. de Bruyne bore down on Yassine Bounou, ready to slide into the corner, only for the goalkeeper to save.
The game was done a couple of minutes before the hour, though. Just as patient as with the first, Foden collected Joao Cancelo’s centre and twisted until the right moment about 15 yards out. Giving Bounou the eyes, Foden skewed into the far corner.
a third for good measure, another for Haaland, mopping up when Bounou saved Foden’s drive. a tap-in merchant, this guy. and then ruben dias had one of his own in stoppage time, adding gloss when meeting Cancelo’s cross.
PARIS in May is a memory that is proving hard to shift for Liverpool. The club’s 10th European Cup final was a wretched affair from start to finish, with the frustration of losing to Real Madrid exacerbated by the horrific events outside the Stade de France. For all that Liverpool dazzled last season, there is a nagging feeling that they didn’t show their true selves against Real and the UEFA technical report, published last month, argued that the impact of a long campaign caught up with them in match No 63.
Jurgen Klopp said after that 1-0 defeat that supporters should ‘book their hotels’ for Istanbul next June, so determined was he to put things right, but for one of his squad no extra motivation is required as they return to European action in Naples. Alisson Becker arrived at Anfield in the aftermath of a Champions League final defeat in 2018 and he can sense the same level of focus to go one better. True, it is early to be making such declarations — not least as Liverpool’s form has been erratic — but the goalkeeper is positive. ‘The day after the final was really difficult because you are frustrated about the result and that you didn’t get your trophy, the main goal,’ said Alisson. ‘But in the end, we are footballers, we are professional players. We have to deal with that. ‘It’s really hard but I’ve learned to deal with it since I was a young boy. It is part of competition, win or lose. As a player you have to give a response straight after. I went to the Brazil national team and after the first match I wasn’t thinking any more about the final.
‘We can try to use that as an extra motivation, but we don’t need that. Being here, playing in the Champions League against a big club like Napoli in a really difficult groups stage is motivation enough for us.’
Liverpool certainly won’t be thinking about next year’s final yet, either. They face Napoli having struggled to find a rhythm domestically, but perhaps things will start to improve now Klopp is getting reinforcements back. Thiago Alcantara is fit for the first time in four weeks, and new signing Arthur Melo is pushing for inclusion after being an unused substitute in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Everton. Klopp, who will be without skipper Jordan Henderson until after the international break due to the hamstring damage he sustained against Newcastle, was playfully looking for omens last night and smiled when saying that being drawn with Napoli usually ends with his sides reaching the final. His mood turned when a local reporter asked him if he felt Naples was a dangerous city — Liverpool’s advice for travelling fans has been to remain close to their hotels — and argued the question was impossible for him to answer as he has never visited as a tourist.
One thing he does know, however, is that his team have failed to properly turn up each time they have played here. That is something, he concedes, that needs to change. ‘Playing better than my previous three times here would be helpful,’ he said. ‘But I am a late bloomer. Let’s see.’
NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim, Rrahmani, Rui; Zielinski, Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Thiago, Fabinho, Arthur; Salah, Firmino, Diaz.