As Manchester City host Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League semi-final second leg, the visitors already have a plan on how to keep Erling Haaland quiet.
In the first leg, Carlo Ancelotti’s side did a commendable job of doing so, with the 22-year-old largely uninvolved during proceedings.
However, with Erling Haaland expected to be right at it for Manchester City at home, Real Madrid have a strategy in place to keep him quiet.
How Real Madrid plan to tame Erling Haaland in the second leg
After the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabéu, Pep Guardiola explained that the hosts’ compactness restricted the prolific marksman from exploiting any space in the final third and doing what he does best.
While Haaland was expected to cause Los Merengues’ defence a world of problems, that was not the case.
As Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is expected to have his say on home soil, Real Madrid have already drawn up a plan to stop him from putting the ball into the back of the net.
“Some within the current Madrid team have been watching him even more closely, mind. The current belief among their defenders is that the best way to deal with Haaland is to get him involved in a physical battle”, Miguel Delaney wrote in the Independent’s newsletter.
He elaborated on how Real Madrid aim to restrict Erling Haaland against Manchester City, saying, “The feeling is that if you get in his face, he refuses to back down. That will impinge on his movement, which, for all the focus on his physical size is the element of his game that really makes the difference. The difference in this Champions League semi-final might be whether he is again drawn into that.”
MCN View: Easier said than done to keep the Manchester City No.9 quiet like that
Ultimately, Erling Haaland himself will note that he has a game to win for Manchester City and eventually pull away from such physical battles against Real Madrid to focus on finding space inside the box.
In fact, an underreported aspect about the Norwegian goalscorer is that while he seemingly loves a scrap on the pitch, he knows how to control himself and zone in on scoring goals.
Premier League defenders have tried to embroil the former Borussia Dortmund hitman into physical battles and eventually, they are left chasing shadows as he dispatches the ball into the back of the net.
