Manchester City is a massive favourite against FC Copenhagen in the opening Champions League round of 16 legs on Tuesday night, but it won’t be that easy for the defending champions to sweep aside the resilient Danish side. Moreover, Erling Haaland’s form has not been that spectacular in recent weeks, after the Norwegian forward played four games without scoring a single goal until last week’s brace against Everton.Everton put up a wall at the Etihad for 70 minutes before Guardiola swung his blonde wrecking ballA spectacular first season at Manchester City saw Haaland netting a jaw-dropping 52 goals in 53 appearances and breaking countless records, while this campaign has seen him scoring ‘only’ 21 thus far.However, City’s boss, Pep Guardiola, believes in Haaland so much that his lack of goals doesn’t bother him at all. On the contrary…”If he doesn’t score against Copenhagen, the day after or next week, it’s not a big issue.”He’s so strong. It comes from nature. He’s coped perfectly because he’s so strong mentally. He scores one goal and wants a second and a third.”You see his numbers at his age. In the Champions League, not even [Lionel] Messi or Cristiano [Ronaldo] had these numbers at his age.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7873235##Before turning 24 in June 2011, Messi had three less than Haaland with 37 goals in the competition, while Ronaldo had just 16 Champions League strikes to his name at the end of the 2008/09 season when he had already turned 24.Still, with 140 goals and 129 goals, respectively, in the Champions League, Ronaldo and Messi are a long way ahead of Haaland, who has scored 40 times in Europe’s paramount competition.”Erling is young, playing in the most difficult position on the pitch surrounded by four or five players with minor space,” Guardiola added.”In the first half maybe we didn’t have the special delivery players, like Kevin (De Bruyne) for example, who can find him. In that moment, he has to be positive. When he scored a goal, he reacted, but he didn’t need to score because he helped us with many things.Hot take, but Erling Haaland had a better legacy in the premier league than Ronaldo ever did. pic.twitter.com/aoeX9ID08s— 𝐄𝐇9 (@EH9_SZN) February 13, 2024 “He is defined by goals, but it is not just scoring a goal. It’s as much how he is clapping, encouraging his mates, and the first intense press. This is what we need from Erling. But we cannot forget he has been out for two months, which is a lot of time for a guy who is so tall. Back to the dynamic is not easy. He’s a huge competitor who wants to score goals. OK, we know that, so relax. If we don’t score today, or if he doesn’t score in 10 minutes, it’s OK. In the process, he has to try because the team always wins when they overcome bad moments,” concluded Guardiola.
