“What does Alfie Haaland put in his son’s lasagna before matches?”wonders this Thursday morning The Sun. A few days ago, the Norwegian star revealed the amazing recipe for his success. A good dish of lasagna prepared by his father before each match at the Etihad Stadium. “I have that before every home game now and it’s proving pretty good, so there must be something special he adds to it. I help very little. I’m mostly lying on the couch watching him. This is how it works”. Yesterday, the 22-year-old striker again tasted the dish concocted by his father before facing Copenhagen. A Champions League meeting where the former Dortmund once again shone.
He is already at 19 goals!
From the 7th minute, he opened the scoring with a rebound from the right after a cross from João Cancelo (1-0). Then, the serial scorer did it again in the 33rd by signing a double (2-0). On track to achieve a new hat-trick, he was replaced at the break, he who therefore scored 2 goals on 4 shots on target for only 11 balls touched. After the meeting, Pep Guardiola, who we saw shocked by the incredible efficiency of his player, explained his choice to do without him for the rest of the game. “He is playing a lot of minutes, the game was under control and Cole Palmer is a great player and was looking forward to playing”.
He then added: “If the game had been close, Erling would have continued but it was better to rest for Southampton. We have a squad of 20 players if you only play 11, the others won’t be ready when you need them.”. Finally, the Skyblues won 5-0 with two new goals from Erling Haaland. The Norwegian has updated his stats as he now has 19 goals (1 penalty) and 3 assists in 12 matches in all competitions. In detail, he has scored 14 times in 8 Premier League appearances. In the Champions League, he has 5 goals in 3 games (0 goal in 1 game during the Community Shield).
Crazy statistics in the Champions League
A competition where he excels, he who has incredible times. choose indicates that he became the first player in history to score 28 goals in 22 Champions League appearances. With a record average of 1.27 goals per game. He does better than 98 teams having played the C1! The 22-year-old striker, who yesterday overtook Luis Suarez (27 goals in C1), has also become “the third player to score in each of his first three UEFA Champions League appearances for an English club, after Marouane Chamakh for Arsenal and Ferran Torres for Man City”remember choose. Impressively, Haaland has been involved in 41 goals in his last 23 club home appearances (35 goals, 6 assists for BVB and City).
1.27 – Erling Haaland has scored 28 goals in 22 appearances in the UEFA Champions League, a goals per game record of 1.27; there are 98 teams with a worse goals per game record than him in the competition. Cheat-code. pic.twitter.com/qaX6ITOtpM
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 5, 2022
A real trigger that bluffs everyone. The English press fell in love with City’s No.9. the Manchester Evening News gave him the mark of 8 for his match yesterday with the following comment: “two goals in 45 minutes without breaking a sweat. The new normal.” The English media then added: “It took Erling Haaland about six weeks to go from being compared to Darwin Nunez to Lionel Messi. There really was no choice, with the Norwegian scoring goal after goal at a level that English football and even the Champions League have never seen. As Pep Guardiola said before this match, his record is undeniably the best for his age. Joleon Lescott, former City player, is also charmed.
Everyone is conquered
“There have been comparisons with Messi and obviously there are a lot of differences in their styles, but I don’t think Pep has worked with someone as instinctive as Haaland before.” His teammate, Jack Grealish is also thrilled. “It’s amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. On the second goal, I was just laughing because he is always there and he always concludes. It’s a pleasure to play with him. When I came back after one of his goals, the Copenhagen goalkeeper said to me: “this guy is not human”. And I answered yes. He’s amazing and it’s a pleasure to play with him. He is so humble. I hope he can continue in this form and lead us to glory.”.
Pep Guardiola wants it too. The City coach has also denied the rumor that his player has a clause to join Real Madrid more easily in 2024. “That’s not true. He doesn’t have a release clause for Real Madrid or any other team. Rumors and people talking, we can’t control them. I always worry about what we can control. What is important is that he adapted very well. We have the feeling that he is happy here. We will try with him and all those who want to stay to make them happy. In the future, no one knows, but he is happy. He’s settled in perfectly, he’s incredibly loved and that’s the most important thing.”.
Can Haaland dream bigger?
He then clarified: “Erling wants the same thing as all of us: to win the game. He had hat tricks. Of course, if he had played 45 more minutes, he would have had more chances. But we need everyone”. Managing the Norwegian well, especially during the long break during the 2022 World Cup, is also very important for Guardiola, who will need him to win the Premier League or even in the Champions League. For the moment, everything is going well since the player under contract until 2027, who has not closed the door to an experience elsewhere in the future, is running at full speed. He is even ahead of his passing times. At the same stage last year, he had 13 goals with BVB (October 16). In 2020-21, he had scored 5 goals by mid-October.
Haaland, who has scored in all competitions for City except the Community Shield, is ahead. This is also due to the fact that with the World Cup, the clubs have already played more matches. But that does not detract from his performance, especially since he has just arrived at a new club. Brilliant, he is currently the top scorer in the 5 major European leagues. He is ahead of Robert Lewandowski (12 goals), Neymar (11 goals) and Kylian Mbappé (11 goals). Haaland does not seem to have any limits, he who could seriously place himself in the race for the Ballon d’Or if he continues at this rate. The Cyborg, who will not participate in the World Cup, will have a say. Especially since he intends to lead the new Norwegian generation and City to the heights. With a good dish of lasagna in the stomach, anything is possible for Erling Haaland!