Champions League mission at Man City for Haaland

Erling Haaland admits he is at Manchester City to win the Champions League after smashing in five goals against RB Leipzig – and warns he can get even better. The Norway forward propelled City into the quarter-finals after a 7-0 win at the Etihad on Tuesday and underlined their determination to finally win Europe’s elite club competition.
“Of course the club want to win the Champions League, they want to still win trophies,” said Haaland, who has now scored a staggering 39 goals in 36 appearances for City since arriving from Borussia Dortmund last year. “They’ve won the Premier League four times out of the last five years so they didn’t bring me in to win the Premier League, they know how to win the Premier League,” he said. “So, you can read between the lines. I’m here to try to help the club develop even more, to win the Champions League for the first time.”
Haaland became only the third player to score five goals in a single Champions League game at the Etihad, taking his tally in the competition to 33 goals in 25 games. He is the quickest player to reach the 30-goal milestone in the competition and, at the age of 22, the youngest.
Haaland also eclipsed Tommy Johnson’s 1928/29 club record of 38 goals in a single season for City. But he insisted his appetite for goals was far from satisfied and he hopes to get even better.
“I knew I was going to score goals because, last season, how many goals did City score? Probably a hundred. When I saw them last season without a striker I was thinking when they were crossing the ball in, I was like ‘Ah, I’d love to be there’. In the end there is so much potential in this team and I think we can improve a lot.... It’s an easy thing to say but I could have scored more goals. I missed a lot of chances.”
City’s performance emphatically dispelled any concerns after their 1-1 draw in the first leg last month. Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne also got on the scoresheet as Pep Guardiola’s men wrapped up an 8-1 aggregate success. “The feeling is amazing,” said Haaland, who has now scored five hat-tricks this season. “First of all to win 7-0 and to give a kind of statement in this tournament, the Champions League, which is a tournament I love.”

Haaland’s life would be ‘boring’ had he set record, says Guardiola
Haaland virtually wrote his own record book for City against RB Leipzig, but manager Pep Guardiola spoiled what might have been one more. Haaland scored five goals but Guardiola substituted him in the 63rd minute.
No player in Champions League history has scored six goals in a game. “If he achieved this milestone, the record, at 22, will be boring, his life, so now he’ll have a target to do it in the future, here and everywhere,” Guardiola said. “So that’s why I make a substitution.”
Haaland became the third player in history to score five goals in a game, matching Luiz Adriano, who achieved the feat in 2014 for Shakhtar Donetsk, and Lionel Messi, in 2012 for Barcelona – with Guardiola as coach. “I didn’t know with Messi when it was happening against Leverkusen, they told me in the first interview,” Guardiola said.
“But I made a substitution (Tuesday) because normally when the game is over, I want to... let them play, as many players as possible. Haaland equalled Messi’s record, but he did it in 60 minutes, it’s different. Who knows if he would have played 90 minutes?”
Haaland was a six-foot-four-inch bulldozer in front of the net all night, narrowly missing several other excellent chances in a victory that secured an 8-1 win on aggregate. “I told (Guardiola) I would love to score a double hat-trick but what can I do?,” said Haaland, who was hauled off minutes after his fifth goal.
Leipzig manager Marco Rose said he knew his team might be in for a stiff challenge against Haaland. “He had a great night. He was so hungry,” Rose said. “He scored goals with the foot and head, won second balls, deep runs. It looked really simple. He took the ball from the referee, that tells you it was a special night for him. Congratulations to Erling.”
Haaland has 10 goals in the Champions League this season, and 33 in his career, reaching the 30-goal mark in 25 games, the fewest ever. He is also the youngest ever to reach that mark.