The Man City manager joked about why he pulled Haaland out after the Norwegian striker scored a hat-trick against Burnley in the FA Cup.
Pep jokes about Haaland
Remember, in the 7-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League, Man City continued to have an easy match against a more underrated opponent, Burnley in the FA Cup. Although he did not score up to 5 goals like in the match against Leipzig, Haaland also "pocketed" 3 goals before being substituted in the 63rd minute.
Many people think that Pep withdrawing Haaland to rest in the match against Leipzig is to "protect" Messi's record. Pep is suspected of deliberately withdrawing Haaland from the field to avoid the Norwegian striker scoring 6 goals in 1 Champions League match. If that happens, Messi's record of five goals per game will be broken.
After the victory over Burnley, the Man City coach joked about the reason he let Haaland leave the field early: "Erling Haaland scored 8 goals in 4 days. Meanwhile, it took me 11 years at Barcelona to score 11 goals. It was difficult. I replaced Haaland so he wouldn't break Messi's FA Cup record, that's why.
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Pep does not want Haaland to surpass Messi
I knew Haaland wouldn't care about records. He is very positive, optimistic and never complains. Haaland is always looking forward and constantly improving himself. The positive mentality makes Haaland an incredible player."
More importantly, Haaland completed his sixth hat-trick in the 2022/23 season with only 19 touches of the ball. He even touched the ball less than both goalkeepers Stefan Ortega of Man City (87 times) and Peacock-Farrell of Burnley (56 times).
The Norwegian striker has reached 42 goals in a season. The season is long and the opportunity for Haaland to break the record for most goals in a season held by Mohamed Salah and Ruud Van Nistelrooy (44 goals) is completely open.
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