The victory, which was City’s biggest win in Europe, propelled Pep Guardiola’s team to the quarterfinals with an 8-1 aggregate score. Ilkay Gündogen and Kevin De Bruyne also hit City’s goal in a devastating encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
That night was a record-breaking night for the 22-year-old Haaland, who became Manchester City’s top scorer for the season, bringing his scoring total for the campaign to 39 goals, surpassing Tommy Johnson’s 1928-29 record.
He also became the youngest player to score 30 goals in the Champions League when he moved to 33, reaching that mark in 25 games, the lowest total in history.
It’s a big night. First of all, I’m proud to play in this tournament, I love it. Five goals. To win 7-0 is amazing, he said.
My superpower is to score goals. Will I be honest? Lots of goals today, I wasn’t thinking. I was just trying to get the ball in the net, he added. A lot of it is being quick in thought and trying to put the ball where there’s no goalie.
Haaland hinted at a big night ahead of him by quickly scoring a double, realizing a penalty in the 22nd minute after Benjamin Henrichs was found guilty of hand-to-hand in the penalty box after a VAR check, and the Norwegian celebrated with a knee and salute.
Nineteen seconds into the game, he struck again.
Haaland pressed the Leipzig goalkeeper, and the latter unsuccessfully kicked the ball, which went to De Bruyne. The Belgian’s shot bounced off the crossbar and bounced back to Haaland.
His fifth hat trick in all competitions this season came in the first half when Ruben Diaz’s header bounced off the line and Haaland rushed in.
Amazing, Guardiola said of Haaland’s play. He has a tremendous competitive mentality, he’s there, and yes, he scored five goals, which is not easy.
Gundogen made the score 4-0 in the 49th minute with a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the field, and Haaland ended his historic night with two more goals from close range in the 53rd and 57th minutes.
Guardiola replaced the Norwegian in the 62nd minute, perhaps sparing Leipzig further humiliation, but denying Haaland the opportunity to score a record sixth goal in a single Champions League game.
I told him (Guardiola) I would like to score a double hat-trick, but what can I do, Haaland said.
De Bruyne scored a stunning goal.seventh goal in secondsnd until the final whistle.
Manchester City have never lifted a Champions League trophy over their heads, but came close in 2021 when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the final. Last season they lost to Real Madrid in the semifinals.
Leipzig manager Marco Rosé knew even before the match started that Haaland would pose a serious problem, and he was right.
He had a great night. He was so hungry, Rose said. He was scoring goals with his foot and head, winning second goals, shooting from deep. It looked really easy.
After the incident, Eriksen spent several months on the sidelines before returning to competitive soccer and currently playing for English Manchester United.
A video of Juvraj expressing the same thing was shared by Manchester United on their social media. I feel he is someone who definitely deserves such an award. He should be a Laureus ambassador in the future, the former cricketer said.
Yuvraj also has a similar story as Eriksen, when he went on to represent India in the 2011 World Cup despite health problems that were later diagnosed as lung cancer. Not only that, Yuvraj won his battle against the life-threatening disease and returned to the national team. He also scored his highest individual score in the 50-over format.
An inspiring story, and definitely when I meet him, I can relate my story to his and put my hand on his back and say well done, he added.
Recalling the grim scenes when Eriksen fell on the field, Yuvraj said: Great story. Someone who was out and didn’t know if he was going to live.
After his cardiac arrest, Eriksen was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, which ruled him out of his former club Inter Milan because Italian rules do not allow such equipment.
Read also | Christian Eriksen’s fall during the Euros affected me the most: Former Liverpool player Mark Seagraves
So to return to the big leagues, Eriksen returned to England, where he represented Brentford last season and helped it stay in the Premier League. The midfielder then moved to Manchester United in the preseason transfer window.
United were struggling last year and he came in and you felt he was the guy we were missing. PossibleIt’s the best midfielder we’ve had in the last few years, and that’s for sure, Yuvraj said.
Eriksen has scored two goals and made nine assists in all competitions this season.
