Mahrez: 'Haaland doesn't need to touch the ball 70 times per game'

"We know the quality of Haaland," Mahrez said after the match at the Red Bull Arena Leipzig on the evening of February 22. "The way he plays doesn't depend on touching or getting the ball. He doesn't need to touch 70 times a game."

For more than 90 minutes, Haaland did not pose a danger towards the Leipzig goal. The most noticeable situation of the former Dortmund striker was a shot that was more than a meter off goal in the 68th minute.

This performance kept Haaland under pressure. In the last six matches, the 22-year-old striker has only scored one goal, down sharply from 31 goals in the previous 26 matches.

Away, Man City entered actively, and opened the scoring thanks to Mahrez 27 minutes. The Algerian winger shot into the right corner, after receiving Ilkay Gundogan's heel strike. However, Man City could not keep the game, letting Leipzig press in the second half. In the 70th minute, they let the home team equalize 1-1 thanks to a header from Josko Gvardiol.

After the game, coach Pep Guardiola entered the field and scolded the Man City players to leave with their heads held high because they played a good game. Mahrez explained: "At the end of the game, we were a bit nervous. The coach told us to calm down. We still have 90 minutes in the second leg. This is the Champions League and the games are still open. One game. Draw on the opponent's field is possible."

The return leg will take place in England on March 14. In the group stage last season, Man City won Leipzig 6-3 at home and lost 1-2 at the opponent's field.

If they beat Leipzig, Man City will enter the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the sixth time in a row. In the last five seasons, Guardiola's teachers and students have had three stops in the quarterfinals, one loss in the semi-finals and one loss in the final. Leipzig's best achievement is reaching the semi-finals of the 2019-2020 season. In addition, they stopped in the group stage of the 2017-2018, 2021-2022 season and the 1/8 round of the 2020-2021 season.