Pep Guardiola ridicules Jamie Carragher’s bizarre Erling Haaland claim

To say that things have not gone to plan for Manchester City so far this season would be an understatement.

Hopes of a title defence are vanishingly remote, Ballon d’Or winner Rodri looks set to miss the remainder of the campaign and City were bounced from the Champions League by Real Madrid. On top of that, Jamie Carragher accused Erling Haaland of deliberately skipping the Real Madrid game out of fear of facing Antonio Rudiger.

With a smirk on his face, former Liverpool defender Carragher told the CBS Sports viewers: “Let me work this out, Haaland’s gone to the manager and said ‘I’m not fit‘. Do you think that’s got something to do with Rudiger? Is it because Rudiger’s playing?

“Are we saying that this injury could be ‘Rudigeritis’?” he continued, teasing City fan Micah Richards alongside him on the CBS panel.

The Madrid defender has impressed with his combative approach to Haaland in previous meetings, but would the big Norwegian really miss out on a crucial UCL knock-out game? City boss Pep Guardiola was stunned by the suggestion.

Did Erling Haaland skip the Real Madrid loss?

Haaland remains a fitness doubt for Sunday’s visit of Liverpool, a crucial game in City' season. In a pregame press conference on Friday Guardiola was told of Carragher’s comments and the City boss responded in disbelief.

“Oh, God. Did he say that? Jamie Carragher said that? Oh God. Don’t laugh,” Guardiola began. ” I don’t know why he makes that ­suspicious, you know that? Did he say that Haaland didn’t want to play the game? It’s not nice – and it’s not true. He was crazy to play the game. He had a problem with his knee and he could not play.”

Guardiola was pressed further on Haaland’s injury status and refused to reveal whether or not he expects the Norwegian to feature from the start. The fact that he was fit enough for the bench in Madrid suggests that he’s not too far away from a return.

“Don’t know yet. Tomorrow we will know,” Guardiola said in Friday’s press conference. “It’s better to have Erling on the pitch... Everybody is responsible for the good things and bad things for the team but obviously with Erling we are better.”

There has been some criticism for Haaland in 2024/25, with some questioning whether he contributes enough to the all-round play in a team that is struggling to control games. But at City Haaland has developed into a pure finisher and he has continued to find the back of the net with regularity. His 19 Premier League goals in 25 appearances this season is behind only Mohamed Salah.

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