Pressed to pick a favourite finish from his five-goal masterclass against RB Leipzig, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland could not recall one.
Erling Haaland claimed his five-goal haul all blurred together after his record-breaking performance steered Manchester City into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The Norway international fired Pep Guardiola’s hosts to a 7-0 victory over RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday in the second leg of their last 16 tie.
In a 7-1 aggregate victory, City’s dominant effort helped their striker to 39 goals in all competitions in the campaign, breaking the club’s single-season record for an individual for almost a century.
But after being forced to choose his favorite finish of the match, Haaland said he couldn’t recall any of them individually after his free-wheeling heroics.
“It’s a bit of a blur in my head,” he told BT Sport. “I don’t remember the goals. I just remember shooting and [not] thinking. I’m so tired after celebrating.
“A lot of goals, I didn’t think. I just wanted to get the ball in the net. The same for the second goal, for the third goal, for every goal.”
“I think a lot of it is quick in the mind and trying to do the right thing [at the moment]. A lot of it is in the head, I think.”
Haaland left the game in the 63rd minute as Guardiola opted to rotate key men ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final with Burnley.
The 22-year-old admitted he would have liked to stay and catch a sixth of the game and revealed he told his manager as much as he was replaced.
“When I left I told him I would like to score a double hat-trick,” he added. “But what can you do?”
City’s victory equaled their previous best in the Champions League, a 7-0 win over Schalke in 2019, and Haaland hinted that his arrival could finally help them claim the coveted trophy that has so far eluded them.
“To say we can score seven goals in this competition is an amazing feeling,” he added to CBS. “The club wants to win the Champions League.
“They’ve won the Premier League four times in the last five years. They didn’t get me to win the Premier League, they know how to do it.”
