Manchester City have suffered a major blow ahead of Real Madrid clash. | OneFootball

When Manchester City and Real Madrid confirmed their starting lineups for tonight’s match at the Bernabeu there was one major surprise from a City point of view. Erling Haaland was named as a substitute for tonight’s match. Based on what we saw during the latter stages of Manchester City’s 4-nil win over Newcastle that news isn’t a major surprise. Haaland did go off late in City’s win at the Etihad with a knee injury. He hasn’t been deemed fit enough to start tonight’s match. But his absence from the starting lineup does allow other players the opportunity to shine against Real Madrid.

Simon Bajkowski of Manchester Evening News has relayed quotes from Pep Guardiola via X explaining why Haaland wasn’t named in City’s starting lineup for tonight’s match. The City manager explained that Haaland isn’t fit enough to start at the Bernabeu. Guardiola explained: “Not close enough. Trained a little bit yesterday but spoke this morning and said he doesn’t feel good so we choose another one.”

It is a blow for Manchester City to not have Erling Haaland in the starting lineup for tonight’s match. He is the world’s best striker, and his sheer presence does affect how teams defend Pep Guardiola’s side. But he isn’t fit enough to start tonight’s match. The positive is that Pep Guardiola has the players in the squad to afford him the luxury of not risking Haaland’s fitness.

Haaland’s absence now allows Omar Marmoush, Savinho, Phil Foden and others to shine at the Bernabeu. They will pose a different type of threat to the Real Madrid defence. With their technical ability, pace and intelligent movement it is something different for Carlo Ancelotti’s side to deal with. We’ll know at the final whistle how Haaland’s absence affected Pep Guardiola’s side.