Pep Guardola, Manager of Manchester City, confirmed that Erling Haaland decided that he was “not ready” in the Champions League on Wednesday evening in the Champions League.
Haaland was a surprising omission from the starting line-up before Madrid did an easy job in the second knockout play-off.
After a dramatic comeback, Madrid already had a slim, aggregated tour in the first leg, but thanks to Kylian Mbappes Hattrick, however, opened an advantage of four goals. A dull city did not really worry the Spanish giants to a late consolation, long after the draw was over as a competition.
Haaland, after optimizing his knee against Newcastle United at the weekend, did not even make it from the bank. Guardiola later explained the situation and how the decision was made not to play.
“Erling tried to train [on Tuesday] After the last campaign against Newcastle. It was okay with the pictures we took, but he had discomfort, for example going up the stairs, “said Guardiola.
“We spoke and he said he was not ready, he didn’t feel good.”
The midfielder of Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham, a former team -mate of Haaland in Borussia Dortmund, expressed sympathy and suggested playing a city in full strength.
“You always want to play teams in the best form and of course I hope that he is not bad. I saw the video and hope it’s not bad, he’s a good buddy of me,” said Bellingham to Bellingham TNT sport.
“You play what you have and I think we did it well. If your key players don’t play, you have other players who can occur and cause damage, so I think we have in good hands.”