Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he must treat Erling Haaland with special care even if it means he will have fewer chances to score.
In the match at Slovan Bratislava’s field in the second round of the 2024/25 Champions League qualifying round, Man City had a resounding 4-0 victory. The goalscorers for the English defending champions were Gundogan, Foden, Haaland and McAtee.
Notably, Haaland left the field immediately after scoring to make it 3-0. The striker had a long discussion with coach Guardiola after the match. And this made many people think that the two were having problems.
However, the Spaniard has since cleared up any speculation, saying City want to keep Haaland on the pitch for as long as possible, but given the tough schedule. With the Norwegian having had a fitness battle at St James’ Park at the weekend, he needs more rest.
“Erling is never disappointed with his coach!”, Guardiola began. “As a coach, I feel safer and happier when Erling is on the pitch.”
“I would have kept him on the pitch all the time but at 3-0 the game was almost over and with the amount of games we have to look after him. Erling had a tough physical battle in the last game against Newcastle, that’s why we took him off early in this game.”
With his goal against Slovan Bratislava, Haaland scored his 42nd Champions League goal in just 41 games, surpassing legendary Sergio Aguero in the all-time Man City goalscoring list. In addition, Haaland also rose to 20th place in the list of the best goalscorers in Champions League history.