On August 19, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola lavished praise on Erling Haaland, stating that his goal-scoring ability is now comparable to that of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and that he has a bright future ahead.
In the first round of the Premier League, Manchester City easily defeated Chelsea 2-0. In this match, Haaland scored the opening goal for Manchester City, marking his first goal of the season.
Guardiola also praised Haaland after the game: “He possesses goal-scoring abilities on par with Messi and Ronaldo. After all, in the past 10 to 15 years, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated world football. Statistically, Haaland has reached the level of Messi and Ronaldo. I don’t know how Haaland did it, scoring 91 goals in 100 games, which is truly unbelievable in the Premier League.”
Guardiola continued: “I feel that Haaland will be even better than last season. Over the long journey of last season, he was a bit tired. It’s a great pity that Norway didn’t qualify for the European Championship, but fortunately, Haaland got more rest time this summer.”
Guardiola then spoke about Haaland’s performance in this match: “Haaland’s goal was fantastic, and of course, apart from scoring, he provided a lot of help to the team, and there were 2-3 other good opportunities.”