Pundit Craig Burley has claimed that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland’s goals may not be particularly significant unless he finds the net against Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight.
The Citizens take on the Spanish giants in their second-leg semi-final clash, as both teams look to secure their place in the final.
The first leg saw City rescue a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu, nicely setting tonight’s game up at the Etihad.
Looking ahead to the crucial match, one pundit has suggested the pressure could be on one City figure, in particular, regardless of his impressive efforts throughout the season so far.
Speaking on a recent video from the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Burley said this about Haaland and his involvement in this evening’s game.
He said: “Can they supply Erling Haaland and is his however many goals he’s got going to matter if he has a quiet game in the semi-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid?
“I’m not taking his goals away from him I’m certainly not, but Man City have brought him in, yeah to help out in the Premier League, I get that, but Man City have brought players like this in for moments like tomorrow and like the final.
“He needs to turn up but he also needs the supply from his teammates which I didn’t think he got particularly well last week.”
With 48 games under his belt for City since his arrival last summer from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £51m, the striker has found the net 52 times, with 12 of those coming in nine Champions League appearances.
Despite that, the Norwegian wasn’t able to score against Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the first leg last week. In fact, he only had 21 touches of the ball in total, fewer than any other player that featured in the game.
Given the importance of tonight’s showdown in City’s quest to finally win the Champions League, it’s understandable why Burley thinks this should be the ideal opportunity for Haaland to step up when it really matters.
