Erling Haaland is reportedly a dream signing for Real Madrid but his performance at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight should put Florentino Perez off. The Manchester City striker is one of Europe's most prolific goalscorers but he was kept quiet by a superb Los Blancos defensive display.
Federico Valverde was the star of the show, scoring an unbelievable first half hat-trick to stun Pep Guardiola's side. The Uruguyan midfielder's third was perhaps the pick of the bunch, taking the ball down from a Brahim Diaz dink and firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
It's the type of goal you'd expect from Haaland but the City man was rarely involved. His outing justified a controversial claim made by Rafael van der Vaart back in April 2024.
Haaland has been a record-breaker since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022. Such has been his dominance in the Premier League that there is constant talk of him eventually ending up at the Bernabeu.
Van der Vaart's Haaland criticism has merit
Van der Vaart who spent several years with Los Blancos didn't seem to back that idea when assessing the 25-year-old. The Dutchman branded him "useless" after a quiet showing in a 3-3 draw between the two sides (via Mail Sport):
"Erling Haaland was very bad. If he doesn't score, he's quite useless. I find him a very average player on the ball."
Haaland was equally as poor tonight, rarely threatening the Madrid defense and it was Alvaro Arbeloa's attackers who looked the real deal. He had just 10 touches of the ball, didn't manage a single shot and was subbed off in the last 10 minutes.
The main consensus ahead of the game was how the hosts should be fearful of the Norweigan. But you wouldn't have even realised he was on the pitch and it will be a concern for Guardiola.
An angry Haaland could bite back
Madrid will not just be taking a 3-0 lead on aggregate to the Etihad but confidence that they know how to stop Haaland. This was a night when he was supposed to rise to the occasion especially with Kylian Mbappe absent through injury.
Haaland will be eager to prove to Madridistas that he is still the deadliest striker in Europe when the two sides meet next Tuesday (March 17th). What was meant to be one of the toughest nights in the club's season turned out to be a breeze.