Erling Haaland has enjoyed a freakishly impressive start to the campaign but as news broke that Manchester City were set to bench their star man for the first time this season, Pep Guardiola said it had nothing to do with the fact Liverpool was his next fixture.
Ahead of the game in Copenhagen, the Spaniard was asked if the five changes to his squad: “Nothing, the guys are not playing because they are tired, they are fatigued and that why we have fresh legs”.
The interviewer then attempted to double down on the fact that the Manchester club’s star striker was not in the starting line-up, to which his manager replied: “I didn’t speak with him”.
It’s a typically spikey interview from the former Barcelona boss and it does seem hard to imagine that there wasn’t even the slightest thought about heading to Anfield, in the hope of securing a big win against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
You can watch Guardiola’s comments on Haaland via @livescore on Twitter:
"I did not speak with him" 😳
Pep discusses Haaland's omission from the starting XI, Julian Alvarez & Liverpool this weekend ahead of City's clash in Copenhagen 🗣#UCL pic.twitter.com/QObGiJ8tbI
— LiveScore (@livescore) October 11, 2022