Five goals for Haaland
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was well aware of what was at stake ahead of his team’s second-leg clash with RB Leipzig in the Last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night. Forget the FA Cups or League Cups and push to one side the numerous Premier League titles: this competition was clearly what the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach had been brought to England to win.
“Yes, that doesn’t mean I agree with that, but absolutely I will be judged for that competition,” Guardiola said at a press conference ahead of the game, when asked if he had to win the competition to confirm his legacy at Man City. “Since day one when I arrived here they asked me ‘are you here to win the Champions League?’. I accept it. It’s not going to change.” Luckily for the Spanish tactician, his team were well aware of that expectation when they welcomed Leipzig to the Etihad.
From the first minute, City harassed Leipzig across the pitch and through the excellent playmaking of Kevin de Bruyne and clinical finishing of Erling Haaland, the English champions made short work of their German opponents in no time at all. The first goal came after just 22 minutes when the aforementioned Norwegian striker scored from the penalty spot, before his Belgian colleague set him up for a second just two minutes later with a shot off the crossbar, which bounced into Haaland’s path to tap home. By the end of the night City had scored six goals and looked like a team desperate to win the Champions League.
Indeed, while Haaland may have stolen the headlines with his remarkable five-goal return on the night, few would have been happier than Guardiola following a truly remarkable performance from his team. As the Man City manager continues his hunt for the Champions League trophy that is currently missing from his trophy cabinet at the English club.
Tuesday night’s win over RB Leipzig was Guardiola’s 45th in the Champions League as Man City manager, taking his win percentage to 64% and his points per game average to an impressive 2.1. Which, to put that into context, is only slightly below Guardiola’s average in the Premier League, which stands at 2.34 points per game. However, unlike the English top-flight, the Champions League isn’t a competition that is won by grinding out points from one week to the next. And due to its knock-out nature, Guardiola has struggled to dominate it as he has done in the Premier League.
Erling Haaland’s goalscoring record for Manchester City this season is truly remarkable pic.twitter.com/8UfEi5nM4w
— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) March 14, 2023
For example, over the course of the six seasons prior to this one, Guardiola’s Man City side have been knocked out of the Last 16 once, the quarter-finals three times, one semi-final knock-out and the defeat to Chelsea in the final of the competition in 2021. And to the likely torment of the club’s fans and Guardiola himself in equal measure, the past six years of dominance in English football has been far from matched in Europe as the club continues its pursuit of a first Champions League trophy. Perhaps this season could finally change that.
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