Erling Haaland scored again and already announced the “big week of results”. Coach Pep Guardiola formulated the motto of Bayern’s relentless quarter-final opponents Manchester City before the second leg in the Champions League this Wednesday in Munich: “We have to win, win and win.”
With the 3-1 win against Leicester City, his team ticked off the next mandatory victory in the Premier League on Saturday. After 25 minutes and goals from John Stones (5th minute) and Haaland with a brace (13th/hand penalty/25th), the game was already over.
Haaland is now also the record holder with the most Premier League goals in a 38-match season. Hardly anyone doubts that he also intercepts Andrew Cole (1993/94) and Alan Shearer (1994/95), who each scored 34 goals in 40 games. Against Leicester, Guardiola gave the Norwegian prodigy a break after half-time.
In the league, Manchester City are three points behind Arsenal after 30 games. However, the Gunners can still draw some of that until the showdown on April 26 before they have to face the defending champions. Guardiola already spoke of the “final” for the championship. For Manchester City, the cup is the order of the day for the first time this coming weekend: in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, it’s against Sheffield United.
But before that, Guardiola wants to improve the 3-0 win against Bayern. “Often there’s a lot of rotation after a game like against Bayern,” emphasized the Spaniard. “But from my experience from previous seasons, the level also drops when you rotate a lot.”
Guardiola made three changes in the starting line-up against Leicester, but after the break he made the most of the quota with five second-half substitutions to conserve energy for the next summit with his former club in Munich. “We’re in very good form and we’re looking forward to the midweek game,” said midfielder Kalvin Phillips.