Erling Haaland was on the verge of a double hat trick for City in the Champions League but it fell through at the last minute…

[RadcliffeRick]

Game won. Sub him off, wrap him in cotton wool until next game and allow the crowd to show their appreciation. Where's the problem?

 

[Bluekiwi]

There is another train of thought ------- Pep wanted to give minutes to some of his other players who were probably sitting wondering when they would get onto the pitch when we were six up.

 

[paska]

I think this undersells how big it would be for the squad to have him do it.

Barca and Real players talk about how at their best the whole team went up a level because they simply believed they'd win because they had Messi/Ronaldo.

Haaland can be that player for us, and the way those legends and mythologies are built is by these kind of heroic record breaking actions. Smashing the goals record, European golden boot, first player in the 70 year history of the European Cup to score 6 in a game.


A lot of our CL eliminations come down to the players seemingly doubting themselves or not having the belief they can overcome going a goal down or missing a big chance or a bad decision going against us.

IMO it's a shame. Not a massive deal, nothing to throw toys out of the pram or taint a glorious evening, just hopefully he doesn't do it again if the chance comes around again.

For all we know he could pull it off in the next tie. There will be further opportunities for it, he’s Erling.

 

[AliBobbyJ]

For all we know he could pull it off in the next tie. There will be further opportunities for it, he’s Erling.

Denis Law remembers his 6 in the rain at Luton.

 

[Bluekiwi]

Denis Law remembers his 6 in the rain at Luton.

That was a real travesty - losing the rearranged game just made rubbing out his goals that much harder to take.

 

[domalino]

For all we know he could pull it off in the next tie. There will be further opportunities for it, he’s Erling.

Maybe. Aguero played 5 seasons and 215 games after Newcastle and never got another chance.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

He does like these "I'm Pep" statement substitutions. But he's not injured and saved a whole 5 or 6 minutes in the legs I suppose.

 

[BHsteve]

In Cricket if a bowler gets four wickets it’s classed as a double hat trick , so last night yer man did exceeding well !!

 

[Dribble]

Pep:

"When the game is won, I like to give other players the chance to play & be involved."

 

[twosips]

Maybe. Aguero played 5 seasons and 215 games after Newcastle and never got another chance.

A fair point, but tbh I think Haaland is a goalscorer on another level entirely to Kun. Not saying he's a better player, but a better goalscorer? Almost certainly. 12 hat-tricks for City in ten years for Aguero. Haaland is on five 2/3rds of the way through his first season. I suspect he's got another one or two to come this season. He'll probably beat Aguero's hat-trick record by 2025. He's ridiculous and will almost certainly get closer to another chance to grab six than Kun ever did.