reactions in England

• Manchester City – Real Madrid, 21:00 on Wednesday

Manchester (Dagbladet): Manchester City begin the countdown to the big game against Real Madrid on Wednesday. The winner goes to the Champions League final on June 10, and once again Erling Braut Haaland will focus.

The Norwegian was not named in last week’s 1-1 match. Real Madrid centre-back Antonio Rudiger treated Haaland harshly at the Santiago Bernabéu.

So did Everton’s centre-back, Yerry Mina, when Manchester City won 3-0 on Sunday.

When Haaland threw his shirt away after the match at Goodison Park, it was strewn with red marks. Manager Pep Guardiola believes Mina acted “unnecessarily”. He said this to the Colombian himself and in the post-match press conference.

The city manager won’t go into details. But he clearly meant to pinch and scratch. Haaland’s muscular upper body received harsh treatment.

Commentator for the Daily Mail’s flagship newspaper, Ian Ledman, thought it was “special” that Guardiola commented on the duel afterwards.

– I think Haaland has to get used to it. This is English football, Ledemann tells Dagbladet.

– If you spoke to apologists 20 years ago, it would not have been strange. It is not part of the Laws of the Game. But I think it is particularly appropriate for Guardiola to bring this up in the press conference afterwards. I don’t think Haaland cared the same way.

Liedman continues:

If I were a City player, I would worry more about what happened in the first half. Then Yerry Mina went to the floor and pretended he had been taken down by Aymeric Laporte. Haaland getting scratched a bit in the heat of the match is something you would expect. Pep didn’t care. But I would be surprised if Haaland was interested.

However, Liedman notes a trait in the Norwegian language:

In Madrid, Haaland played one of his most unknown matches. Central defender Antonio Rudiger did a very good job with him. What’s interesting about Haaland is that when he’s physically challenged – as happened with Yerry Mina on Sunday – he can become even more anonymous. This is what happened in Madrid. And that’s what happened over the weekend, even though it’s a record, Ledemann points out.

– I suppose Real Madrid will try to get the same match tomorrow. But I hope Haaland doesn’t think too much about how to get him into this kind of game.

England Tonight: – Absolutely

because:

– I expect him to score.

Manchester City is about to win the treble. At a press conference this afternoon, Pep Guardiola was asked if the next month would define his legacy at Manchester City.

– Remember that!

“My legacy is indeed extraordinary,” says the twinkle in his eye.

We are not more stupid than we know how important tomorrow is. It’s probably the most important game since we’ve been here. I say to the players: enjoy the moment. Enjoy how lucky we are to have it in our hands. It depends on us. We don’t have to do anything exceptional. We just have to be ourselves and give our all.

The press conference lasted until noon Tuesday.

– There is fear for Haaland, Abraham Romero, a journalist for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, tells Dagbladet.

– But I think Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba will do a good job of stopping him. At least they did it at the Santiago Bernabéu.