A former Premier League striker believes Erling Haaland will prove the difference for Manchester City in their clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday.
City welcome the Spanish giants to the Etihad Stadium in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
The two heavyweights drew 1-1 in the first leg in Madrid last week, with Kevin de Bruyne cancelling out Rodrygo’s opener with a vicious long-range strike.
With the Premier League title practically wrapped up and an FA Cup final date with Manchester United already in the diary, Pep Guardiola’s side must beat Madrid if they are to keep their treble hopes alive.
Much has been made of Guardiola’s failure to lead City to Champions League glory, but many believe that the signing of Haaland represents the final piece of the puzzle.
The 22-year-old striker has scored 52 goals in 48 games this season, with 12 of those making him the top scorer in this season’s Champions League.
Haaland to score a brace
Former City striker Daniel Sturridge certainly thinks that City’s ‘special’ attacker will prove the difference on the night, predicting that the Norwegian will score a brace to send his side to the final in Istanbul.
“Real [Madrid] will do what they’re known for – controlling the tempo in midfield, getting the ball wide and feeding Benzema,” Sturridge predicted in a video posted to his Instagram page.
“City will look to control possession, be clinical in front of goal and try to stifle Vinicius.
“It’s a tough game to call. I believe Real have a massive chance of winning, but it’s their [City’s] time. Haaland will score two, City to advance.”
Certainly, Haaland has given City a new dimension in the Champions League this season.
City have had no issues scoring goals in seasons past, but Bernardo Silva admitted that having a striker as clinical as Haaland helps the team in multiple ways.
“Erling is a special player, a different player to what we had in the past and is someone who doesn’t have to touch the ball many times to score,” the midfielder told BT Sport after City’s 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich last month.
“He’s like a shadow for 85 minutes and then he touches one and it’s a goal.
“Because we have that special player now maybe sometimes we feel a bit more comfortable defending a bit more back because when they give us the space in behind we know we have that animal running in the back.”
