Haaland Goalscoring Form Depends On The Team, Guardiola Insists

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Pep Guardiola played down concerns over Erling Haaland’s quieter spell, stressing that the striker’s output is tied to Manchester City’s overall play, as City chase Arsenal in the Premier League and prepare for another Champions League meeting with Real Madrid in the last 16.

City can cut the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points with a win over Leeds United at Elland Road, before Arsenal face Chelsea on Sunday, while Real Madrid await in Europe after the latest draw set up a high-profile last-16 tie.

Haaland remains the Premier League’s top scorer this season, with 22 goals across 27 league matches, supported by a division-leading 20.6 expected goals. However, the Norway international has scored only three times in the last 10 league fixtures, despite chances worth 4.5 expected goals over that period.

Guardiola highlighted Haaland’s wider contribution during this stretch, noting that the forward has added three assists across City’s four most recent matches. The manager accepted that the statistical dip in finishing is noticeable but underlined that City still benefit from Haaland’s movement, positioning and passing in the final third.

"Always, I say to try and make Erling as close to the box to score goals,There areno more tactics than that, and the team to help him score goals. It depends on the team. It's really important [that he helps in the build-up] but we have to try and use him as little as possible, even with man-marking. We have to make an alternative to long balls with Erling when he's up against a player like [Newcastle United's Dan] Burn.Otherwise, every three days, doing that for a striker like Erling, it's not sustainable."

Erling Haaland, Manchester City and Real Madrid rivalry

Attention at City also turns to Europe, where Real Madrid again stand in the way. Since Guardiola arrived in 2016, City have faced Los Blancos 11 times in the Champions League, including this season’s league phase, when City claimed a 2-1 victory at Santiago Bernabeu.

"It is a little bit weird [to face Madrid again], he added.It looks different. People will agree or disagree but it is different. But why not? In the Premier League and cups, how many times have we played against Newcastle this season? Hopefully, we can play against them in the final. The Champions League is so difficult.I'm not saying Madrid is not difficult, everybody knows that, but the rest of the teams that you playyou can name me any team, all of them have the 'trick'. If you want to go through in this competition right now, you have to win against the best teams, otherwise you don't deserve it."

Erling Haaland focus as Manchester City chase titles

Guardiola’s comments underline a consistent message before the Leeds trip and Real Madrid clash. Haaland’s finishing numbers fluctuate, yet Guardiola views City’s structure and collective performance as the key driver, both for the striker’s goals and for the club’s attempts to defend domestic and European titles.