Guardiola slams Haaland criticism: ‘People want him to fail’

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says people want Erling Haaland to fail after the striker ended his goal drought in the team’s Champions League win over Young Boys on Wednesday .

The 23-year-old scored for the first time in six Champions League matches with his brace helping City to a 3-1 victory against the Swiss club.

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Haaland, who rewrote several goalscoring records last season, added another on Wednesday, breaking Kylian Mbappé’s mark as the youngest player to score 37 goals in the Champions League. The Norwegian international achieved this feat in 33 matches.

Guardiola defended his striker from criticism and warned Haaland will continue to score goals throughout his career.

“It’s important to have chances, people want him to fail,” Guardiola told TNT Sports after the match.

“I’m sorry, but this guy will score goals all his life. Given chances, he poses an incredible threat.

“Players need the ability to find the pass, like Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gündogan. But he will score until his last day of football.

The Premier League champions maintained their 100% winning record in Group G with three victories, despite their pre-match concerns about the smooth artificial turf at the rain-hit Wankdorf Stadium.

City can clinch their place in the knockout stage when they face Young Boys again, this time at home, on November 7.

Guardiola’s side return to league action when they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the derby on Sunday.

Information from Reuters was included in this report.