As one of Manchester City’s captains, Erling Haaland will take it upon himself to pick his teammates up and go again after their disappointing 3-1 loss against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Jude Bellingham sent a message to Haaland after his side’s triumph where he wishes his former teammate to recover from his knee injury that ruled him out of the clash.
Erling Haaland would have been gutted himself as in his two full seasons at City, they have won the Champions League and reached the quarter-final stage.
But things have certainly changed for Manchester City, who are no longer amongst the best of the best in Europe — as typified by how one-sided Real Madrid’s latest victory was at the Santiago Bernabeu.
- UEFA Champions League
-
Real MadridReal Madrid
3|1
Man CityManchester City
-
The nature of City’s defeat and their limp display as a whole must have hurt the players.
A dressing room full of serial winners are not accustomed to bowing out of the Champions League even before the last-16 stage and that too after being demolished.
Erling Haaland says Man City will “rise again” after Champions League loss vs Real Madrid
Haaland, alongside Phil Foden and Savinho is expected to usher the next generation of Manchester City players as their old guard clearly seem like they are well past the titans they used to be.
As one of City’s leaders, the 24-year-old must be ready to face the music from the supporters as well, who much like him and his teammates rarely know what losing feels like due to the lofty standards Pep Guardiola has set.
Haaland seems up for the challenge, as he promised Manchester City fans after his side lost to Real Madrid that they will “rise again.”
The Leeds-born striker wrote on X: “We remain as one, sometimes you have to experience this in life and learn from it, you can’t always win.”
“We’ll rise again together.”
With Jamie Carragher criticising Haaland’s absence against Real Madrid, the man himself will be aware that in the days to follow, him and his teammates are set to be widely slated.
Erling Haaland can save Pep Guardiola from embarrassment by doing one thing
Looking ahead, City will focus on finishing in the top four and winning the FA Cup.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 4 | Man CityManchester City | 25 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 35 | 17 | 44 |
Haaland will especially be important as Pep Guardiola’s men would be dying to attain both targets.
Notably, Guardiola guaranteed City would win the FA Cup during their trophy parade as they celebrated winning four successive league titles just a day after their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United last season.
The star striker will play a massive role in helping the Catalan boss fulfil his promise.
If City fail to win the FA Cup, Pep Guardiola could be left red-faced for giving such a bold guarantee.
Manchester City face Plymouth Argyle in the next round of the competition on the first day of March as they will be hoping to take home one piece of silverware at least this campaign.
