Some people are more 'turned on' by the Champions League than anything else... and Haaland is one of them
Manchester City booked their place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League with a 7-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium, once again establishing themselves as one of the favorites to lift the trophy.
Erling Haaland will be crucial to their campaign, which was even more evident on a night that will always be remembered for his five-goal haul.
What Manchester City wants is European success, despite what Ferran Soriano says.
"The Champions League is not Manchester City's priority because we play to win the Premier League," said City CEO after the Champions League group stage draw in August.
However, Pep Guardiola admitted on Monday that his time at the club will be judged by what he does in this competition... not least with the squad and the goalscorer he has.
So, Erling Haaland has arrived, having all but disappeared after the World Cup, at least by his lofty standards, and he had a record-breaking night, scoring five goals in a Champions League game.
It read like a script reminiscent of another of the great Champions League icons... Lionel Messi.
What came as a solution is going to end up ruining football. The penalty call for the opening is inexplicable. It was a ball that brushed against the hand of the defender and an incident that City didn't even claim for.
A handball that does not change the trajectory of the ball at all and is almost unnoticeable shouldn't be given as a penalty.
It is no longer enough to parrot the rules on handballs, no, something has to be done about this... and urgently. PS: the person who was in the VAR room, a Spaniard, Hernandez Hernandez.
On the other hand, the easier ones are not to be seen. In the first half Ederson came out of his area at the wrong time and ran over Konrad Laimer without even touching the ball.
The referee, half a meter away, gave Timo Werner a yellow for protesting. It didn't look like a red card, but if the VAR is also being called for other dubious incidents, this was certainly one of them.
Manchester City are now several steps ahead of PSG. It is unavoidable to compare these two teams given the fact considerable finance has bankrolled their respective rises, but just what is the difference between the two projects? Why is one succeeding where the other is falling so short?
The difference is that in Manchester, they have put together a team in accordance with a strict philosophy. Hence the fact that the Citizens have made it six consecutive seasons in a row past the last 16 and the Parisians have been knocked out in this round for the fourth time since 2017-18.
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