The Norwegian finally struck against Los Blancos at the fifth time of asking, but he will have to raise his game against his most formidable opponent
Before last week, Erling Haaland had both an awful record against Real Madrid and an excellent one. The Norwegian had failed to score against the Spanish giants in four matches, but at the same time, he had never lost a game against them, with Manchester City winning the Champions League 2022-23 semi-final tie 5-1 on aggregate but falling out of last year's quarter-finals on penalties following two draws.
The Norwegian finally broke his duck against Madrid last Tuesday by twice giving City the lead in the first leg of their knockout phase play-off. Yet paradoxically, Haaland's best individual performance against his bête noire coincided with City's worst collective display and another late collapse, leaving Pep Guardiola's side with it all to do if they are to turn the tie back in their favour and remain in Europe.
After brushing off an injury scare in City's last match against Newcastle, Haaland will be gunning for his first goal at Santiago Bernabeu now that his Madrid hoodoo is over. But the bad news is he will have to hurdle the colossal presence of Antonio Rudiger on the way…
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Rudiger remained in Madrid last week as he was still recovering from a hamstring injury, but he will be back in the squad on Wednesday, and Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed the Germany international is ready to start. That is bad news for City, who have failed to beat Madrid whenever Rudiger has started.
It is especially bad news for Haaland, though. When the pair met each other for the first time at the Bernabeu in May 2023, the Norwegian was in the midst of his record-breaking debut season with City and on his way to finishing as top scorer in the Champions League, having scored five goals in the last-16 second leg against RB Leipzig before finding the net in both legs of the quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich. Rudiger, however, calmly placed the goal-machine in his pocket that night, limiting him to 20 touches in the 1-1 draw, when Kevin De Bruyne struck for the visitors. Guardiola admitted that his star striker had been marked out of the game and sought to justify his lacklustre display by pointing to his age and relative inexperience.
The City boss said at the time: "Congratulations to Rudiger, but Erling, we cannot forget, is 22 and it was the first time he has played in the semi-finals of the Champions League. For the first time going to the Bernabeu, one of the biggest stages, against a top-class club with good defenders, midfielders and strikers, next time will be a little bit easier."
AdvertisementGetty 'Cyborg deactivated'
Haaland did not get a second bite at Rudiger in the second leg as Ancelotti bizarrely decided to take the German out of the line-up in favour of Eder Militao. City battered Madrid 4-0 at the Etihad, with Rudiger only being called upon in the 67th minute when Guardiola's side were well on their way to the final in Istanbul.
Starting such a crucial match on the bench must have felt like a sucker punch to the ex-Chelsea man, and when the two teams were paired together again the following year, the German was intent on making his mark on the Norwegian. He told the press conference before last year's quarter-final first leg: "It's personal for me as a defensive player, against a super striker like Haaland."
Rudiger won Round Two as Haaland had an even worse game than the year before. City's No.9 had only 20 touches, lost the ball seven times, had one shot on target and failed to compete a single dribble. Rudiger sought to disrupt Haaland every step of the way, getting in his face, nudging him off the ball and beating him in duels.
"Rudiger eats Haaland" declared the following morning, and described the City striker as "impotent". were even more scathing, remarking that "only the substitutes participated less than Haaland" while calling the Norwegian "clumsy and desperate". One writer remarked: "The cyborg was deactivated against Rudiger."
Getty Marmoush can help
Round Three of Haaland vs Rudiger back at the Etihad was a more balanced fight. Haaland hit the bar while the German's botched clearance handed De Bruyne City's equaliser. Rudiger had the final say though, burying the decisive penalty which sent Madrid through to the semi-finals and on their way to their second Champions League triumph in three years, and their 15th European Cup overall.
Round Four is shaping up to be another intriguing clash between centre-back and centre-forward. Rudiger could be lacking sharpness in his first game back since being forced off in the 15th minute against Espanyol on February 15. Haaland, meanwhile, is back in prolific form, having scored nine goals and provided two assists in his last 10 matches. And now he has an equally terrifying strike partner that Rudiger and his fellow Madrid team-mates will need to worry about.
Omar Marmoush only played four minutes plus added time in the first leg, but he heads to Madrid beaming with confidence after his hat-trick against Newcastle. The Egyptian was the second-most productive provider of goals and assists in Europe's top five leagues behind Mohamed Salah when he joined City from Eintracht Frankfurt in January, and his treble against the Magpies lifted him on to 22 goals for the season to go with his 11 assists. Between them, Marmoush and Haaland have 49 goals and 14 assists in 2024-25 – but it is not just the numbers that should concern Madrid.
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Many teams this season have found that to stop Haaland is to stop City. During Guardiola's side's shocking run of one win in 13 matches between late October and late December, the Norwegian scored only four times, and none of his team-mates could fill the gap in the meantime. City netted 15 goals in total in that period, with Josko Gvardiol, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva the only players aside from Haaland to score more than once.
Marmoush's awakening means that even if Haaland does have an off-day like in his previous three games against Rudiger, City will still provide a threat. And the Norwegian can help his fellow forward out without scoring or even shooting, but merely by drawing defenders to him. Newcastle seemed so intent on stopping Haaland on Saturday that they forgot about Marmoush, leaving the Egyptian unchecked in the area even after he had scored two goals, allowing him to calmly slot in Savinho's cut-back to complete his hat-trick.
City have also been trying to get more out of Haaland in their build-up play since their humbling 5-1 thrashing by Arsenal at the start of the month. Gvardiol combined superbly with Haaland for the Norwegian's opening goal in the first leg, hitting him with a low ball down the left wing to begin the move and then meeting him in the area to chest the ball into his path. The Croatian also released Haaland down the left against Newcastle, although on that occasion the forward went for goal and was tackled.
