How Erling Haaland was Neutralized in Real Madrid vs Manchester City

The match between Manchester City and Real Madrid was one of the most spectacular matches of the year, with both teams offering a dynamic and technical game at the highest level. The pacing of the game was great, with each team managing to surprise with precise passes and dangerous shots. Erling Haaland, one of the most prolific strikers in European competitions this year, failed to add Real Madrid to the list of teams he has scored against.

Erling Haaland’s performances in European Competitions

The Norwegian striker confirms why he is considered one of the best in the world in the current Champions League season. Haaland leads the xG (Expected Goals) standings with a value of 6.37, also having the most shots on target: 21, followed by Kylian Mbappé with 18. So far, he has scored 4 times in the competition.

It is important to mention Manchester City’s relatively easy path: an easy group stage and a weak opponent in the first knockout round, FC Copenhagen, considered one of the weakest teams which passed the group stage. You can see the analysis of the match with FC Copenhagen here. This context may partly explain Haaland’s performance.

However, this does not negate his achievements. He has already shown that he is a top striker, but it remains to be seen what contribution he will have in Manchester City’s campaign for a second consecutive Champions League.

Starting Lineups: Real Madrid – Manchester City

In this match, we see Haaland starting as the Citizens’ striker, after he played against Crystal Palace and scored a goal. He was rested in the match against Aston Villa, where we saw Julián Álvarez as the central striker for Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne also did not play in this match since he’s not 100% fully recovered and up to the task.

Real Madrid also had to make some changes to their line-up to compensate for the injury to David Alaba. Aurélien Tchouaméni played alongside Antonio Rüdiger as central defender.

The First Minutes of the Game Bring Haaland’s Only Shot on Goal

The two players responsible for neutralizing Haaland in this match were Real Madrid’s two central defenders, Rüdiger and Tchouaméni. However, the first minute of the game brings some challenges for Tchouaméni in fulfilling his duties properly. Jack Grealish takes advantage of the central space left open and is launched by Gvardiol, behind Carvajal and Camavinga. This forces Tchouaméni to cover the lateral part of the field, and he fouls Grealish, receiving a yellow card, which forces him to be more cautious throughout the match.

Thus, Manchester City receives a free kick through which Bernardo Silva manages to open the scoring.

The beginning of the match also brings Erling Haaland’s only shot on goal in this game, at the beginning of the 7th minute. The play starts with a clearance by Ortega looking for Haaland, who loses the duel with Rüdiger, but the citizens retain possession of the ball. Gvardiol finds the open space near the center of the box very well and manages an incisive pass that finds Haaland, who then sends a powerful shot towards the goal, but it goes straight into Andriy Lunin.

It should be noted that, although Haaland managed to surpass Rüdiger in this play, the latter caught up with him and bothered him enough to make the shot more difficult for the Norwegian forward.

Manchester City’s Strategy Regarding Haaland

Manchester City is renowned for their possession and buildup play from the back, starting from the defensive line. However, in this match, Guardiola tried a different strategy to try and engage Erling Haaland.

Throughout the game, during open play, Haaland was closely marked by Rüdiger, making it very difficult for him to receive a pass from his teammates with a slow and steady build-up play. This can be clearly seen on Manchester City’s pass map, where we see a single isolated point: Erling Haaland.

Because of this, Manchester City attempted to send the ball to Haaland through long passes from Ortega. The citizens positioned themselves on the field in their usual positions, ready for their typical buildup play from the back, but instead of opting for a short pass to one of the central defenders, Ortega chose to clear the ball towards Haaland. Known for his strength as well as his physicality, this strategy could have worked, but Rüdiger managed to handle Haaland very effectively.

Thus, we can see with each of the long passes aimed at City’s striker the efforts of Rüdiger to prevent Haaland from controlling the ball. He did everything possible, playing at the edge of a foul to prevent Haaland from being able to receive and control the ball.

Erling Haaland’s Contribution

Despite Erling Haaland not having a direct significant impact in this match, with only 20 touches throughout the game, the fewest among all starting players, we shouldn’t disregard his indirect contribution to Manchester City’s victory. It’s true that Erling Haaland is somewhat reliant on his teammates to receive the ball in the box, and against top teams with valuable midfielders, this will always be a challenge.

However, his impact on the game can be observed even when he doesn’t make many direct contributions because, by being a constant threat, he requires constant attention from opposing defenders. Thus, spaces can be created outside the box when Haaland advances, which other teammates can capitalize on. This can be seen in Phil Foden’s spectacular goal in the 66th minute.

Because Erling Haaland was in the box, the defensive line of Real Madrid was pushed back, and Rüdiger didn’t have time to intervene to stop Foden, who shot perfectly, equalizing the score.

Conclusions

Real Madrid managed to perfectly neutralize Erling Haaland, not giving him any opportunity to endanger Lunin’s goal. The defensive effort of the midfielders to deny any passing lanes to the attacker, combined with Rüdiger’s defensive efforts, succeeded in keeping Real Madrid on the list of teams against which Haaland is yet to score.

However, this effort left certain spaces open, which the Citizens managed to exploit very well, and both teams offered us an extraordinary match full of spectacular moments, exceptional goals, and a carousel of emotions.