Guardiola jokes about constant praise for record man Haaland
Superlatives are still not enough for Erling Haaland. The Manchester City striker is breaking one record after another, including in the Champions League - this time much to the chagrin of RB Leipzig. His coach Pep Guardiola is amused and annoyed, wondering what else he should say.
Pep Guardiola is annoyed. He always has to talk about his mega-successful goalscorer. Erling Haaland always gives his Manchester City coach the same barrage of questions. A luxury problem! With his goal in the 54th minute in the 3:2 win in the Champions League match against RB Leipzig, the Norwegian has once again made soccer history. It was the 23-year-old's 40th goal in the top flight.
Haaland needed just 35 games to reach this mark. That is ten fewer than the Dutch ex-professional Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had previously held the record. Even Guardiola, who has been accustomed to superlatives by virtue of his position for years, is slowly running out of accolades. "Again? Do I have to tell you again?" joked the star coach when asked for a comment on Haaland. "A thousand million times, I'm really impressed. You won today. Another record. Congratulations. He's a fantastic player. I've told you many times that we are very, very happy."
No wonder, he scored most of his goals in a Manchester City shirt. Haaland scored a total of 17 times for the English champions in the Champions League. He also scored 15 goals for Borussia Dortmund and eight for Red Bull Salzburg. The fact that he scored 40 goals at the age of just 23 years and 130 days also makes him the youngest player to reach this mark. The previous record holder was PSG star Kylian Mbappé, who now stands at 43 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo (still) has plenty of head start
"We love him, not just for the goals he scores, but also for many other things," Guardiola said of Haaland. More importantly on Tuesday night, however, the striker's goal was the prelude to the Bundesliga side's overhaul, Leipzig having taken the lead through two goals from Loïs Openda. It was the first time since 2018 that City had trailed by two goals.
"We made them angry with the result at half-time," said Leipzig coach Marco Rose. "It was clear what to expect. The 1-2 gave the game a new direction again." Because then came Haaland - and the turning point.
The Norwegian has long been used to chasing records. He sets a new one almost every week. Just four days ago, he pulverized the Premier League goal record, scoring his 50th goal in his 48th league game against Liverpool FC. For the most part, he is the youngest, the highest scorer, the most sensational. He is currently in 20th place in the Champions League's all-time goalscoring list, and his 50th goal would see him overtake Thierry Henry. But it will probably be some time before he reaches the top, even for Haaland: Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 140 goals.
Haaland's goal against RB Leipzig in the Champions League brought him closer to Thierry Henry in the all-time goalscoring list. Despite breaking numerous records, he still has a long way to go to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 140 goals in the competition. Manchester City's manager, Josep Guardiola, has often been amused and annoyed by the constant praise for Erling Haaland, as the Norwegian striker continues to establish himself as a prolific goalscorer in the Champions League with Manchester City.
Source: www.ntv.de
