Haaland’s record-breaking night comes shortly after City head coach Pep Guardiola compared the striker to football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The duo dominated world football in their heyday, while Guardiola, who managed Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, was instrumental in Messi’s rise to superstardom.
After Haaland bagged a brace against Bournemouth at the weekend, the City boss played down the idea that they are too reliant on the striker. Guardiola insisted that a team is naturally going to see an individual as dominant as Haaland lead the scoring charts.
“This is what it’s like if you play with Messi or Ronaldo, his influence is so big,” Guardiola said. “You see the numbers of that guy? Of course he’s that level. Messi and Ronaldo have done it for 15 years, but this is the level. The first goal, the way he shoots the ball, it’s like ‘I am going to score’. He has that hunger. It’s top. I said how incredibly coachable and manageable he is.
“I am tough sometimes with Haaland, but he is open-minded. He lives for the goals and sometimes the pressure cannot sustain 90 minutes, but that’s normal. Without him it would be tough to be honest, but we are lucky that Omar is back, and we have fit players, it’s good.”