fivefold for Haaland and Manchester City thumps Leipzig to slip into quarter-finals

Manchester City had to show another face after the draw conceded in Germany (1-1) three weeks ago. More irregular this season, the English club was wary of RB Leipzig at the time of this round of 16 second leg of the Champions League. Pep Guardiola was not mistaken in sending his strong men since apart from Kyle Walker, on the bench at kick-off, it was the typical team of the moment which started against a formation, again deprived of Christopher Nkunku.

As much to say it right away, there was never any suspense in this match. Very quickly, the Cityzens took control of this match to never let them go, and save themselves a humiliating elimination. Gündogan (3rd) and Haaland (11th) set the trend, and the Norwegian scored twice in two minutes, including a disputed penalty (22nd, 24th, 2-0). Leipzig tried to rebel but between the referee’s decision not to exclude Ederson out of his area in front of Werner (34th), and the shot from Laimer (35th), nothing smiled on him.

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Champions League: Erling Haaland reacts to his incredible historic quintuplet

Haaland’s incredible evening

Haaland did not miss it and scored a hat-trick just before the break (45th + 2, 3-0). The second period feared to be long for a German team well below its standards, and not helped by the facts of the match. The first minutes confirmed this trend because in just nine minutes Manchester scored three new goals. A sky blue hurricane that devastated everything in its path, including poor Blaswich, yet focused on his line, but abandoned by his defense.

Gündogan was walking in the area (49th, 4-0), Haaland did it twice on this badly cleared corner (53rd, 5-0), before ending his evening with an incredible fivefold on a new ball that remained in the surface (58th, 6-0). The Norwegian could leave in stride under the ovations of the public. There was no longer really a match since the two teams rotated their workforce, the qualification of Manchester City having already been acquired. This historic evening nevertheless ended with a final magnificent achievement by Kevin de Bruyne (90th + 2, 7-0).