Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has opened up about his striker Erling Haaland’s battle with Real Madrid’s defender Antonio Rudiger in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-final.
Rudiger marked Haaland exceedingly well during Tuesday’s clash, which ended 1-1, and did not allow the Norwegian to get into clear goal-scoring positions.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Everton, Guardiola said that his side are ready for the decisive stage of the season.
“He’s ready for Sunday and then Real Madrid,” said Guardiola.
“Congratulations Rudiger. Erling is 22 years old. It’s the first time he plays semi-final of Champions League and first time he plays at Bernabeu, a big stage.
“They are top players. Good defenders, midfielders, and strikers.
“Next time it will be a little bit easier. If the team is able to play a little better in some departments it will be easier for him.
“At the end we will try to do it. He fought a lot.”
Guardiola also spoke about full-back Kyle Walker’s return to the starting XI.
“They have to (be ready),” he said.
“Why shouldn’t they be ready? It doesn’t matter if they play or not. They are taken care of really well.
“The team needs him, be ready. Kyle knows the reason why he didn’t play, we spoke together many times.
“It was just tactical decision. He is a really important player for us. Sometimes we need that type of player in that position, sometimes we don’t.
“Sometimes we need more defenders or better build up.
“For the FA Cup semi-final I played Sergio (Gomez), Sergio didn’t play much but in that position, we need him for the way Sheffield defend.
“Most of the time it’s correlated to these situations. I am very pleased that most of the time Kyle is ready.”
Manchester City are currently at the top of the Premier League with 82 points in 34 matches. They are one point ahead of Arsenal in second place but also have a game in hand.