Guardiola: 'Man City bought Haaland to win the Champions League'
"Haaland is very important for Man City," Guardiola said on April 10 at a press conference before the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern. "Haaland came to help Man City win the Champions League, but at the same time in the Premier League and the FA Cup."
However, the Spanish coach confirmed that Man City had no problems with scoring. He recalled that Man City scored six goals against Monaco in the round of 16 in 2017, but were disqualified by the away goals rule. Manchester club was eliminated for the same reason when drawing Tottenham 4-4 through two quarter-finals in 2019.
In the summer of 2022, Man City only spent $ 63 million to recruit Haaland, $ 19 million less than the striker's contract release clause with Dortmund. The Norwegian striker integrated quickly and continued to shine when he scored 44 goals in only 37 games since the beginning of the season, breaking many records in both the Champions League and the English Premier League. In the top five European leagues, Haaland is 13 goals behind the person behind, when PSG's Kylian Mbappe has only 31 goals in 35 matches.
Haaland is considered a piece that helps Guardiola realize his ambition with Man City to win the Champions League. During his seven years working in England, the 52-year-old coach always helped the team get through the group stage, with the best achievement being the runner-up in the 2020-2021 season. Last season, they stopped in the semi-finals when they lost to Real with a total score of 5-6.
Having won the Champions League twice when leading Barca, Guardiola admits he has always been under pressure to help Man City win the continental arena since the beginning of the job. The Spanish coach said that Man City always tries in each season, but the opponents in the Champions League are also excellent and want to win. He pointed to the fact that basketball legend Michael Jordan has only won the NBA championship six times over 16 years of playing to illustrate the fact that Man City still cannot win the continental arena.
In the Champions League final in 2021, Man City lost 0-1 to Chelsea - then led by Thomas Tuchel, the current coach of Bayern. Guardiola thinks this is a well-balanced match and has forgotten this defeat. "Sometimes you win when you deserve it, sometimes you lose. I don't live in the past. That's part of football," he said.
Guardiola was also surprised when Bayern sacked Julian Nagelsmann to appoint Tuchel, and said that the German representative would not die to aim for a draw at the Etihad. "Bayern is not playing but thinking about the second leg. They will come here to win," the Man City coach expressed. "From experience working at Bayern, it doesn't matter where you play, you have to keep your identity and win. If Bayern defended more than usual, it's because City are playing well, not because Bayern's approach is death-defying."
