Pep Guardiola was finally able to bring back the prestigious and historic Champions League trophy to Man City, after adding legendary striker Haaland from Dortmund to the squad.
Haaland scores a lot of goals but he still fails in big matches, fading in both the FA Cup and C1 Cup finals and recently the European Super Cup.
The Norwegian star scored 52 goals in 53 matches in all competitions for Man City, contributing greatly to Pep Guardiola’s team’s spectacular treble journey (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League).
Not only that, Haaland is the top scorer in the Premier League (36 goals) and the C1 Cup (12 goals). Impressive performance in his first season at Etihad helped the 23-year-old star win all individual titles to date: Best Player of the Season from Premier League Organizing Committee, Best Player of the Year from PFA, Best Player of the Year of UEFA…
In front of Haaland is the most prestigious individual title beckoning: the Golden Ball, in which the possibility of ‘dislodging’ Messi to be honored for the first time cannot be ruled out.
Rodri was another important player in Pep Guardiola’s winning squad.
However, Haaland still has a problem to solve: failing in big matches. We can mention 2 confrontations in the semi-finals of the C1 Cup with Real Madrid (Man City won 5-1 in the end), 2 finals.
If in the FA Cup final, Man City 2-1 MU, captain Gundogan scored both goals, then in the battle for the European throne with Inter, Rodri was the hero who helped Pep Guardiola’s team fulfill their dream of winning the throne. with a stunning goal in the second half.
Recently, when asked about the memorable goal in Istanbul in June, Rodri said jokingly but also tactfully blamed Haaland for being silent in important matches: “Sometimes Erling Haaland doesn’t do his job well.”
Rodri and Man City experienced a wonderful season, along with teammates Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, John Stones, and Ruben Dias appearing in the UEFA Team of the Year.
In the new season, Rodri also scored 2 goals in 3 matches, including the decisive goal to help Man City win 2-1 against Sheffield in round 3 of the Premier League.
Lam Hoang | 21:16 September 2, 2023
