Erling Haaland once again demonstrated his status as a global phenomenon in a stellar performance on Tuesday. Haaland scored five goals in a game at the Etihad Stadium to equal a Champions League record. Manchester City thrashed RB Leipzig 7-0 and advanced to the quarter-finals in just 23 minutes.
Very young and very decisive
At just 23 years old, the Norwegian striker now has 33 goals in 25 games in the Champions League, making him the top scorer in the current edition with 10 goals. His impressive performance at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday puts him in the same league as Argentina’s Messi and Brazil’s Luiz Adriano, who also scored five goals in a single Champions League match. Messi achieved this feat against Bayern Leverkusen while playing for Barcelona, and Luiz Adriano did it for Shakhtar Donetsk against Bate Barisov.
However, Haaland’s achievement could have been even greater if not for Pep Guardiola’s decision to replace him. The Spanish coach replaced Haaland in the 62nd minute, a decision that did not please the striker. However, he left the field to a standing ovation and thunderous applause from the crowd.
Favoritism
On Monday, Guardiola joked that every year City are tipped as one of the favorites to win the Champions League despite never having lifted the trophy, saying “We have to do something good”. However, he admitted that the team’s football needed to improve against Leipzig. This Tuesday, his team showed that it is a strong candidate for the coveted trophy.
The City players followed the manager’s instructions to the letter, launching a blitzkrieg attack early in the game. They created three good chances through Gundogan, Haaland and Grealish which brought the stadium to life. The continued pressure paid off midway through the first half thanks to Haaland’s individual brilliance.
With two minutes of difference, the attacker gave the English a huge advantage. In the 22nd minute, he masterfully converted a controversial penalty – the ball accidentally hit Henrichs’ hand, leaving him dismayed by the controversial decision. But a minute later, De Bruyne’s thunderous shot hit the post and Haaland was there to grab the rebound to make it 2-0.
The Germans had to mount an unlikely comeback to survive in the competition. As well as facing strong opposition and being two goals behind, they also had to deal with the snow that was falling in Manchester. However, the match was played in very low temperatures, with the thermometer showing 3° Celsius and a negative thermal sensation.
the opponent suffers
Leipzig struggled to break through City’s defense and saw the English team give the goalkeeper a hard time. Blaswich denied Haaland a hat-trick with another impressive save in the 32nd minute.
Late in the match, City made a few mistakes and Leipzig finally had a chance to score. First, Ederson made a mistake leaving his area, and then Rúben Dias gave a chance, which Timo Werner failed to convert to reduce the disadvantage.
The Portuguese player Rúben Dias had a complicated night in the game, but managed to redeem himself in the second half stoppage time when he headed the crossbar and the ball ended up touching Haaland, who scored his third goal of the match and became the top scorer in the Champions League . City continued to dominate the match in the second half and turned the victory into a rout. Then Gundogan scored the fourth goal with a cross hit and Haaland extended the scoring with two more goals, reaching 39 goals for the season. Then City took their foot off after the sixth goal and Guardiola substituted several players to avoid injury. De Bruyne also closed the rout with a beautiful goal in stoppage time. The team now awaits the draw for the quarterfinals.