Man City defender happy not to face Haaland

Center- back Josko Gvardiol is still haunted by the confrontation with Erling Haaland last season when he and his former team RB Leipzig lost 0-7 to Man City in the Champions League.

Last season, while playing for RB Leipzig, Gvardiol was part of a defence that Haaland crushed with five goals. Man City then won 7-0 in the return leg and 8-1 on aggregate, in the Champions League round of 16. This season, Gvardiol is no longer in danger of facing Haaland. He moved to Man City in August, for a record fee for a defender of $99 million.

"I'm very happy to be Haaland's teammate," Gvardiol told ESPN on November 27. "Last season, I was really looking forward to playing against him, but the game didn't end as well as I had imagined. Haaland scored five goals in just 60 minutes. When I saw him being substituted, I was very happy."

Josko Gvardiol (left) fell while chasing Erling Haaland during Man City's 7-0 win over RB Leipzig in the second leg of the 2022-2023 Champions League round of 16 on March 14, at the Etihad Stadium. Photo: Offside

Last season, Haaland scored a total of 52 goals in 53 games for Man City. Part of that was a record 36 goals in a Premier League season. Haaland also scored 12 goals in the Champions League and four in Cup competitions.

The Norwegian striker has been in fine form this season, scoring 18 goals in 19 games, including 14 in 13 Premier League games and four in four Champions League games.

"At the start of the game, Haaland disappeared," Gvardiol added. "But then he came out and scored a hat-trick. I don't know how Haaland did it, but I loved it."

On the evening of November 28, Man City will meet RB Leipzig again at the place where they won 7-0 last season, the Etihad Stadium. In the first leg this season, the English team won 3-1. Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku scored for Man City, while Gvardiol played the full 90 minutes against his former team. Haaland also started the whole match, but did not score any goals.

Man City are currently top of Group G of the Champions League and have already qualified. They have 12 points after four games, three more than RB Leipzig. If they win on the evening of November 28, Man City will enter the round of 16 as group winners. RB Leipzig have also qualified, having finished eight points ahead of the two teams behind them, FK Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys, with two games remaining.

Thanh Quy (according to ESPN )

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