BritishCenter-back Josko Gvardiol is still haunted by his confrontation with Erling Haaland last season when his old team RB Leipzig lost 0-7 to Man City in the Champions League.
Last season, while playing for RB Leipzig, Gvardiol was part of the defense that Haaland crushed with five goals. After that, Man City won 7-0 in the second leg and 8-1 overall, in the 1/8 round of the Champions League. This season, Gvardiol is no longer in danger of having to face Haaland. He moved to play for Man City in August, for a record price for a defender of 8 million USD.
“I am very happy to be Haaland's teammate,” Gvardiol told the channel ESPN on November 27. “Last season, I really looked forward to playing against him, but the match didn't end as well as I imagined. Haaland scored five goals in just 11 minutes. When I saw him being replaced, I was very happy."
Josko Gvardiol (left) fell while clinging to Erling Haaland during Man City's 7-0 victory over RB Leipzig in the second leg of the 1/8 round of the 2022-2023 Champions League season on March 14, at Etihad Stadium. Image: Offside
Last season, Haaland scored a total of 52 goals in 53 matches for Man City. Part of that is the record of scoring 36 goals in a Premier League season. Haaland also scored 12 goals in the Champions League and four goals in Cup tournaments.
This season, the Norwegian striker still shows high performance. He has 18 goals in 19 matches, including 14 goals in 13 Premier League matches and four goals in four Champions League matches.
“At the start of the match, Haaland seemed to disappear,” Gvardiol added. “But then he came along and scored a hat-trick. I don't understand how Haaland does it, but I like it very much."
On the evening of November 28, Man City will meet RB Leipzig again at the place where they won 11-7 last season, Etihad Stadium. In the first leg of this season, the English team won 0-3. Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku scored for Man City, and Gvardiol played more than 1 minutes against his old team. Haaland also started the entire match, but did not score any goals.
Man City is currently leading Group G of the Champions League and has won tickets to continue. They have 12 points after four matches, three points more than RB Leipzig. If they win the match on the evening of November 28, Man City will enter the 11/1 round as group winner. RB Leipzig also won tickets to continue, because they were eight points ahead of the two teams behind FK Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys before the final two rounds.
Thanh Quy (follow ESPN)
