MANCHESTER, England — Erling Haaland He scored five times as Manchester City defeated RB Leipzig 7-0 to book their place in the Champions League quarter-final.
City reached the quarter-finals for the sixth consecutive year after Haaland found the net five times in less than an hour at the Etihad Stadium. Ilkay Gundogan and kevin debruyne They were also on the record in the win.
Haaland is the third player to score five goals in a Champions League match after Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano, as well as breaking City’s single-season goalscoring record less than a year after joining the club from Borussia Dortmund.
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quick reaction
1. Haaland’s five break the mark of Mbappé and Messi
The numbers generated by Erling Haaland in his first season in England are staggering and they are getting more and more impressive. After scoring five times against RB Leipzig, including his fifth hat-trick of the season, the Norwegian now has 39 goals, one more than City’s single-season record of 38 set by Tommy Johnson in 1928-29. It’s only March and with City still in three games, Haaland could easily pass 60 by the end of the season.
His second goal against RB Leipzig: a header from close range. janis blaswich in a mistake, made him the youngest player at 22 years and 236 days to reach 30 Champions League goals, ahead of kylian mbappe (22 years, 352 days) and Lionel Messi (23 years, 131 days).
Pep Guardiola said earlier this week that matches against Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig and Burnley would decide his season. Two games down, Haaland has made the key contribution in both. He was hired by City to decide crucial games at the end of the season and that is what he is doing. Burnley should be worried ahead of their visit here in the FA Cup on Saturday.
2. VAR review allows floodgates to open
RB Leipzig came to Manchester believing they could make an impact after earning a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany, but they never got the chance to turn the night into a nervous one for City. The fans inside the stadium were unaware of what was happening when Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic started jogging towards the pitch monitor to watch for a potential penalty that no one else had spotted.
Even after review, it seemed very harsh to judge that benjamin henrichs had driven Rodriheader of . Haaland didn’t care and scored his 35th goal of the season from a penalty and, while the remnants of RB Leipzig’s protests continued to point at Vincic, the Norwegian got his second of the night.
In the space of two minutes halfway through the first half, RB Leipzig’s game plan was in tatters and, trailing 3-1 on aggregate, they found themselves faced with an almost impossible task. By the time Haaland sealed his hat-trick in first-half stoppage time, the game was over and the second half was little more than a training session for Guardiola and his players.
City were heavy favorites before the game and RB Leipzig probably would have lost anyway, especially with Haaland in this kind of form, but manager Marco Rose has every right to feel that the referees didn’t help his team.
3. Apart from Bayern, the best teams in the Bundesliga receive a hard lesson
RB Leipzig is out, joining Borussia Dortmund in being knocked out by a Premier League side after they were sent off by Chelsea. Bayern Munich, the best the Bundesliga has to offer, is still involved after it knocked out Paris Saint-Germain, but the rest of Germany is trying to catch up with England’s big budgets.
RB Leipzig haven’t made it past the round of 16 since reaching the semi-finals in 2020, while Dortmund’s best is three quarter-finals since reaching the final in 2013. It could have been different for RB Leipzig if they had christopher nkunku he was available for more than 24 minutes in the two games, but the French striker is a good example of why Leipzig and Dortmund will struggle to regularly break into Europe’s top eight teams.
Nkunku heads to Chelsea in the summer, while Dortmund’s best player, Jude Bellingham, could follow Haaland to City if they can fend off competition from Real Madrid and Liverpool. It’s hard to catch up when the rug is constantly being pulled from under your feet.
Best and worst performers
BETTER: : Erling Haaland, ST, Man City.
Scoring five times in a Champions League knockout game is a terrifying achievement.
BETTER: juan stonesDF, City of Man.
He played right back and midfield and excelled in both positions.
BEST: Kevin De Bruyne, MF, Man City.
Criticized by Guardiola in the build-up to the game, but scored an impressive seventh goal.
WORST: Janis Blaswich, GK, RB Leipzig.
He made a serious mistake when RB Leipzig conceded a quick second goal.
WORST: Timo WernerFW, RB Leipzig.
The former Chelsea striker had a night to forget on his return to England.
WORST: Josko GvardiolDF, RB Leipzig.
Facing one of the best strikers in the world in Haaland, one of the best young defenders watched his team concede five goals in less than an hour.
Highlights and Highlights
Good knowledge of the situation of Haaland, who scored his second goal (after the first from a controversial penalty) when he found himself in the right place after a great shot from Kevin Bruyne.
TWO GOALS IN TWO MINUTES. ERLING HAALAND WITH HIS 30 #UCL GOAL. 🤖 pic.twitter.com/rg7EMukU9j
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2023
But De Bruyne got his that night, saving it for the final seconds of the match with a rocket.
Kevin De Bruyne saves the best for last, it’s 7 o’clock. 💫 pic.twitter.com/Q1Lz71tljt
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2023
After the game: What the coaches and players had to say
Erling Haaland, on his night of five goals: “My super strength is scoring goals. Should I be honest? Lots of goals today, I didn’t think. I was just trying to get it in the back of the net… A lot of it is being quick on the mind and trying to put it where it’s not the goalkeeper”.
Key statistics (provided by ESPN Stats & Information research)
– Pep Guardiola was the manager of Haaland and Messi in their five-goal performances in the Champions League. Messi’s occurred in a round of 16 match against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2011-12 season.
– Manchester City tie their own record for the largest margin of victory against a German team in the Champions League (7-0 against Schalke in the 2018-19 round of 16).
– This is the seventh time that a German team has conceded more than 6 goals in the Champions League. Pep Guardiola has been the coach in four of those games (one at Barcelona and three at Man City).
Until next time
City of Manchester: Hosting Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-final on the Saturday before the FIFA international window. They return to action on April 1 against Liverpool in a league match.
RB Leipzig: At VfL Bochum on Saturday in the Bundesliga before the break. Lodging Mainz 05 on April 1st.
