The day Erling Haaland was signed

Pep Guardiola has in recent months dismissed the proposals he signed Erling Haaland to win the Champions League. While the Norwegian has scored with impressive ease and has twelve goals in this edition of the Champions League, Guardiola has always maintained that the problem for this City in not conquering ‘Orejona’ is not offensive production, but rather is defense.

And he was right. From that 2017 loss against Monaco, it was decided 6-6 on aggregate and double the amount of away goals, until last year’s match. Real Madrid, lost 6-5, City always had more points, but they also conceded too much. More than the champions of the Champions League should.

That’s why he organized the defense, throwing it away Aymeric Laporte, trusting the partner Rubén Dias-John Stoneswith a touch of the latter to act as an additional midfielder, and two full-backs who are more defensive than offensive: Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji.

A defensive and pragmatic approach that resulted in Santiago Bernabeuwhere the game is not out of control as it was last year, but now it needs the appearance of its star to complete the project.

It is no coincidence that an image appeared in the City massage room with three titles at stake, the Premier, the Champions League and the FA Cup with the subtitle “Goal”, goal, in English. Because Guardiola wants the triplet and this Wednesday many spotlights, all from England, will point to him, and to the man inevitably associated with this success, Haaland.

There are many reasons to convince the Norwegian to sign for city and not by any other team last summer. The story of his father, Alfie, with City, his economic claims, the attractiveness of the Premier, his star status, the dose of Guardiola, who did not hesitate to adapt to him despite scoring five goals in one game, and Guardiola himself.

City offered it, expecting only one thing in return: its first Champions League.

the norwegian, to date, he has responded in the two most important games at continental level that City have played. In the second leg against Leipzig he scored five goals, after a 1–1 first leg, and against Bayern Munich he scored one goal and provided another in the first leg and sealed the tie in the second leg with one another goal.

Now he has the pressure of not playing a good game in Santiago Bernabeu, partly due to Antonio’s excellent performance rudiger, and having the first big defeat of the season closer than ever, not counting the lost Community Shield final against Liverpool, when many believed that Darwin Núñez, the winner that afternoon, would have scored more goals than him this season.

Since then, everything has gone well for Haaland, who between goals and assists has been involved in 50% of City’s goals scored at the Etihad Stadium. That’s why Guardiola replaced him with just 10 minutes left this Sunday against Everton, to keep his fitness and be ready against Real Madrid.

“We have to take care of him 24 hours a day, so our doctors and physios are always with him,” Guardiola said of a player who surprised his own teammates with the amount of time he spends in the massage room, the one in which he hangs the image of the Champions League.

This Tuesday, Haaland andHe will eat lasagna, like before every important game, and he will put on the boots where this weekend he literally crossed 35, for goals in the Premier League, and put up 36. His goal, a Real Madrid with whom he has always been a relative and rejected for a deal: bring the first Champions League to Manchester.