It’s no secret to anyone that the man behind Manchester City’s qualification for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League is Erling Haland. The ‘Android’ not only paved the way for the victory of the citizens against the RB Leipzig, but he had the luxury of scoring five spectacular goals, matching Lionel Messi’s mark of converting that many goals in a Champions League clash. However, the 22-year-old forward wanted to break Rosario’s mark because Pep Guardiola decided to substitute him in the second half.
A move that unleashed a wave of criticism of the Spanish manager, who claimed he was in charge of his former manager’s record at FC Barcelona. Even Erling Haaland himself revealed that he himself told Guardiola at the time of his move that he wanted to become the first player to score six goals in a Champions League game.
What did Guardiola say about Haaland’s move?
Given this situation, the strategist of Manchester City He admitted he took the Norway striker off the field so he couldn’t exactly beat Messi’s mark because if he had done it against RB Leipzig his life would have been ‘very boring’.
“If he gets that record at 22, his life will be very boring. Now he has a goal for the future. Here or somewhere. That’s why I made the switch, but I made the change because I usually want everyone to play when the game is over. The largest number of players,” he said at a press conference.