Pep Guardiola joked that he took Erling Haaland off when he was one goal short of a double hat-trick in Manchester City’s 7-0 crushing of RB Leipzig to ensure he still has at least one target to chase. The Norwegian broke records by scoring five goals, becoming the youngest and fastest player to reach 30 goals in the Champions League, and joining only Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano in scoring five goals in a single Champions League match.
Erling Haaland completed his hat-trick in first-half stoppage time after scoring two goals in two minutes midway through the first half; the first of which was a contentious penalty. He then added two more in the 53rd and 57th minutes, with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne scoring the other goals as City won 8-1 on aggregate.
Guardiola jokes ‘it will be boring’ if Erling Haaland broke Messi record just yet
Erling Haaland was at his best against RB Leipzig, scoring five goals as Manchester City’s 7-0 win helped them advance to the quarter-finals. The Norway international became only the third player in Champions League history to score five goals in a single game, joining Lionel Messi (for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen) and Luiz Adriano (for Shakhtar Donetsk against Bate Borisov).
Guardiola, however, took his summer signing off in the 63rd minute and replaced him with Julian Alvarez, preventing the striker from completing a historic double hat-trick, which would have then shattered Messi and Adriano’s record. When asked about the substitution after the game, Guardiola explained:
“If he achieves this milestone at 22, 23, it will be boring his life. He wouldn’t have a target to reach in the future. Here and everywhere. That’s why I make a substitution. I didn’t know about Messi with Leverkusen (when he scored five against them in 2012), but I make a substitution because normally when the game is over we want them to play. He scored five goals. The problem is every time we don’t score two or three he will be criticised. This is the reality.”
Goals have not been an issue since Erling Haaland arrived in Manchester – Tuesday’s performance brought him to 39 for the season, breaking Tommy Johnson’s club record for a single season (38) which he set back in the 1928/29 campaign – but the debate over his overall contribution has raged on as every touch count is scrutinised. Guardiola added on it:
“Today he scored five but touched 30-35 ball contacts. This is what we’re looking for. When you’re involved in a game defensively, the ball comes to score goals you’re more clever, more precise. Gundogan scores goals, he can do it. Sometimes it’s his fault, sometimes he doesn’t move.
“For example at Crystal Palace he didn’t move, I said ‘you didn’t play good today’. Other days it is our fault, like in Leipzig we didn’t find him. Sooner or later we’re working a bit, everyone we try to make the process quicker. Once we break the holding midfielder we have to be quicker. People think it depends on the line-up we’ll play slowly, comfortable. The mentality is always been so so aggressive. Sometimes we cannot do it because the opponent is there.”
Following a stunning performance in the Champions League, Erling Haaland and City will turn their attention to their FA Cup quarter-final match against Burnley on Saturday. However, it is always clear even before a new season starts for City that their top most priority remains the Champions League. With Haaland in such a formidable form, Guardiola will hope to finally bring the trophy to the Etihad.