Erling Haaland’s spectacular season continued with another double on Saturday (April 8) against Southampton, which took his tally to a stunning 30 goals in just 27 Premier League appearances. That prompted Pep Guardiola to believe the Norwegian is already approaching the levels attained by legendary forwards Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Haaland has now accumulated an astounding 44 goals in all competitions this season as Manchester City chase the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup. His extraordinary feats have already broken a number of records, and on Tuesday night, the City striker will be attempting to finally beat Bayern Munich for the first time.
‘He is on that level’ – Guardiola believes Erling Haaland has already scaled the heights of Messi, Ronaldo
Guardiola has never been one to exaggerate his own players, but the City manager couldn’t help himself in the case of Erling Haaland. Moreover, the Spaniard has often admitted that Leo Messi will always be the best player in the history of the sport, and no one, even Cristiano Ronaldo comes closer to the Argentine in terms of the magic he works on the pitch.
However, Guardiola now believes Haaland has cracked into the same bracket as both Messi and Ronaldo. He told Match of the Day after City’s emphatic 4-1 win over the Saints, thanks to a Haaland brace and a goal each from Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez which put them within six points of league leaders Arsenal with a game in hand:
“We have lived with [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] for two incredible decades – and now Haaland is on that level. You see how many games Erling has played during his professional career and you compare the goals he has scored in that time to Messi and Cristiano, it’s quite similar.
“I think Messi is a more complete player. The other two, Cristiano and Haaland, are like machines. But Erling knows the other two guys have dominated for two decades, not just one year. They have scored goals, won titles and done absolutely everything. Erling is just 22 years old and he is doing it in the toughest league in the world.
“I can talk because I’ve been in other leagues. Doing what he is doing is remarkable. To reach the level of Cristiano and Messi takes a lot of work. But Erling puts pressure on himself like Messi and Ronaldo. When he doesn’t score two or three goals he says ‘what’s the problem, what’s the problem?’ The numbers he has at his age are unbelievable.”
City have won their last eight games in all competitions, as they pursue a rare treble won by their rivals Manchester United in 1999. And Guardiola knows he must have Erling Haaland firing on all cylinders, as he has been doing since joining from Dortmund last summer for as minimum as £51m. Thomas Tuchel, who guided Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over City in the 2021 Champions League final in Porto, is Guardiola’s next opponent with Bayern Munich.
Although he has managed to score 5 goals against the Bavarians, Erling Haaland has never tasted a victory against Guardiola’s former club, suffering 7 defeats in 7 games. He will finally look alter that record over a two-legged affair against the Bundesliga champions in the following weeks. Prior to joining City, Guardiola spent three years at Bayern, and he is aware that Tuchel’s men will have confidence in their ability to prevail on Tuesday night at the Etihad Stadium.