In the Wednesday evening draw between Manchester City and Inter, Erling Haaland’s performance was once again under scrutiny. Just as in the Istanbul final in June 2023, the Norwegian striker suffered from Francesco Acerbi’s tight marking.
According to Pep Guardiola, after the Champions League draw, Haaland’s real problem against Inter was something else. Not so much the obsessive attention given by Acerbi to the young striker, but the cage created by Simone Inzaghi between defence and midfield to limit the forward’s room for manoeuvre.
This was Guardiola’s analysis: “Did Haaland suffer from Acerbi’s marking? No, I see six of them on him, three behind and three in front. It’s difficult for everyone, any player in the world in that position would struggle. How to help him? Put more players in that position, or through transitions, but they have more leg than us and physically they are stronger. When Inter defends like this, I don’t expect to have 25 scoring chances in a game, it’s impossible.”
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