Guardiola is suspected of favoring Messi over Haaland
Haaland scored five goals when Man City beat RB Leipzig 7-0 in the second leg of the 1/8 Champions League round. This result helped Guardiola's teachers and students continue with the score 8-1 after two rounds. But in the 63rd minute, six minutes after making it 6-0, Haaland was pulled off the field by Guardiola, making way for Julian Alvarez. If he plays longer, Haaland can score more goals and conquer new milestones.
The Norwegian striker is only the second player in Champions League history to score five goals in a knockout match, after Lionel Messi in 2012. Coincidentally, Guardiola both coached these two players when they accomplished that feat.
Messi was considered Guardiola's pet when he worked at Barca from 2008-2012. Therefore, there are some opinions that the coach of Catalonia withdrew Haaland from the field on March 14 because he did not want his current student to surpass Messi to monopolize the record for the number of goals in a Champions League knockout match.
On the show El Larguero of the Spanish TV channel Cadena SER, commentator Tomas Roncero commented: "Guardiola seems jealous. He stops Haaland from making history. Guardiola seems to have a reverence for Messi, so that's why. I don't want to offend my former students. I think you have to accept life as it is. Someone else will be better and score more goals than you."
Roncero also asserted that Haaland was "more than enough to score two more goals if he played the remaining half hour of the match". The Spanish journalist also said that "despite being prevented by Guardiola, Haaland will sooner or later break this record".
Cadena SER commentator Marcos Lopez agrees with Roncero. He said: "Haaland is like a machine, scoring five goals in 35 minutes, from 22 to 57. If you leave him on the field for 90 minutes, I think Haaland can score between eight and nine goals." Haaland himself admitted after the game that if given the opportunity, he would like to play longer and score two hat-tricks.
Haaland has scored 39 goals in 36 appearances for Man City this season, including 28 in the Premier League, 10 in six Champions League games and one in the League Cup. He can be rested when Man City take on Burnley in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on March 18.
