Erling Haaland plays an extremely important role in Man City’s play this season.
Last week, Man City destroyed RB Leipzig 7-0 at the Etihad, with a total score of 8-1, to win tickets to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season. Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland (5 goals) are the players who opened fire for The Citizens.
This can be considered one of the best performances of Haaland’s career to date, if not the best. Accordingly, the Norwegian player broke many incredible records.
Haaland became the fastest player to reach 30 Champions League goals in history, taking only 25 games to reach this number, breaking the record set by Manchester United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy with 34 games.
He is also the youngest player to score 30 goals at the age of 22 years and 236 days, surpassing Kylian Mbappe’s achievement of 22 years and 352 days. Haaland is tied with Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano for the most goals scored in a single Champions League game.
Not stopping here, Haaland also scored another hat-trick in Man City’s 6-0 win over Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-finals. After this match, the club tournaments took a break to make way for international matches.
Of course, Haaland is on the Norwegian team. However, the striker unexpectedly withdrew at the last minute. According to 90min, it is likely that the former Dortmund star will be absent from the upcoming Man City matches due to injury.
Haaland appeared to have a groin problem during the win over Burnley. Therefore, he could not join the Norwegian team to attend the 2 Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Spain and Georgia.
Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken did not reveal much about the striker’s injury. He only announced: “Erling had a hard time realizing that he couldn’t fight for the team. Fortunately, this team still has a lot of confidence, talent and cohesion to win points in the next matches.”
The Norwegian national team’s doctor, Ola Sand, added: “After carrying out the tests, it was clear that Erling could not attend the games against Spain and Georgia. He would have been better off. medical monitoring at his club.”
However, many people began to question Haaland’s injury. By missing Norway’s upcoming matches, the 22-year-old could enjoy a longer break before the Premier League sprint.
Indeed, it remains unclear the severity of Haaland’s injury. The Citizens have had a busy April and they return to action on the first of the month against Liverpool at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola’s side also met Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals before facing Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-finals. Haaland risks missing all of these games if the groin injury becomes severe.
All will become clear in the coming days, but surely Man City need the prolific Haaland to be able to work towards a successful season.
