WE MUST WORK A LOT HAARDER
Guardiola tells City stars: Raise your game... it’s time to bust Erling free from Real lockdown Man City (1) v Real Madrid (1) Wednesday, Kick-off 8pm, BT Sport 1
PEP GUARDIOLA has promised Real Madrid that they will see a very different Erling Haaland on Wednesday.
Haaland had a tough night at the
Bernabeu last Tuesday, with Real’s former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger winning their duel.
The 51-goal Norway striker had only 21 touches in Spain – the fewest of any starting player in Madrid, including keepers Ederson and Thibaut Courtois.
City’s Ederson even outdid Haaland in passing stats, with 19 to 13 for the newly crowned Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year.
Haaland has scored 35 of his 51 City goals on home soil.
And, with the tie balanced at 1-1, Guardiola is hoping to see Haaland flourish back on familiar territory, given better supply by his team-mates.
The Manchester City boss said: “So congratulations to Rudiger. For Erling, we cannot forget, at 22, it is the first time he has played the semi-finals of the Champions League.
“On that first time, he goes to the Bernabeu, one of the biggest stages, against Real Madrid, a top, top club with good defenders, good midfielders, good strikers.
“Next time will be a little bit easier for him. If the team is able to play a little better in some departments that we are thinking about for Wednesday, maybe it will be easier for Erling.
“But he fought a lot and showed incredible commitment in what he had to do. I am pretty sure he will be ready first for
Everton and the next games.”
So, too, will
Kyle Walker
– whether he plays or not in the match today at Goodison Park. The England right-back, 32, has been a key figure in City’s trophy-winning success, but has played in only 32 of the club’s 54 games this season. But that has left Guardiola saluting the attitude of his speedy defender after having benched him for both legs of the quarter-final against Bayern Munich, and then started him in Madrid.
“Why should he not be ready? It doesn’t matter if he has played or not played. The players get taken care of really well – when the team needs them, they will be ready. Kyle has been that,” said Guardiola. “He knows why he didn’t play at times this season.
“We spoke together many times and he knows the reason, which is just tactical decisions, no more than that.
“He is a really important player for us, but sometimes we need one type of player in that position and sometimes we need him specifically.
“In the FA Cup,
Sergio Gomez hadn’t played, but we needed him for the way Sheffield United defend. I am very pleased that all the time Kyle is ready for us.”