Man City get Erling Haaland injury update for Real Madrid – ‘He struggles’
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is hoping that Erling Haaland can get back to his sharpest on the training pitch before Real Madrid.
Erling Haaland returned to the Manchester City team against Nottingham Forest
Pep Guardiola kept Erling Haaland at home for the FA Cup tie at Newcastle to make sure he is up to speed to face Real Madrid. Manchester City head to the Spanish capital on Tuesday and Guardiola wants his star striker fresh after a recent injury.
Haaland sat out the Premier League win over Leeds last weekend with a minor ankle problem he picked up in training, but returned for the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest. He played the full match at the Etihad, although he was unable to have much of an impact and did not look at his sharpest.
Guardiola may always have been planning to rest Haaland for the FA Cup game at St James Park, but with the information he had last week decided that it would be best for the Norwegian not to travel up to the north-east with the rest of the squad – especially if he was only going to sit on the bench – and instead work on getting his top speed back.
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“I didn’t think to let him play and I prefer him training to [clicks fingers] make a rhythm,” said Guardiola after the 3-1 win over Newcastle that books City’s place in the FA Cup quarter-finals. “After injury when he drops he always struggles to have that real pace.”
The Blues will head to Madrid with confidence after coming from behind with a weakened team to beat Eddie Howe’s side, and they have already won at the Bernabeu this season. Haaland scored a penalty after Nico O’Reilly equalised for a 2-1 victory in the first stage of the Champions League.
That result was crucial to City finishing in the top eight and Real being forced to go through the play-off, but the two European giants will meet for a 10th and 11th time in the past five years when they go head-to-head over the next fortnight. Guardiola’s side are still in all three domestic competitions and will look to keep their unlikely dream of a Quadruple alive in the Champions League.
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