Haaland's two-goal debut shows Pep has no excuse in Champions League, claims Capello

By Sports Desk August 10, 2022

Pep Guardiola has no excuse not to win the Champions League with Manchester City given Erling Haaland's talent, according to Fabio Capello.

City were Premier League champions last season but again came up short in Europe, losing to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

The perennial league winners are still waiting on their first taste of glory in the Champions League, which Guardiola himself has not won since 2011.

Widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the modern game, Guardiola's failure to deliver success in Europe's elite club competition has regularly been used as a source of criticism.

And Capello – a European champion as Milan coach in 1994 – now believes City must succeed this season.

New superstar striker Haaland marked his Premier League debut with two goals in a win at West Ham, and Capello spotted the final piece of the City jigsaw.

"This year there is a favourite for me: Manchester City," the ex-England manager told Il Mattino. "There is no race.

"They finally have a powerful centre-forward in Haaland. He has power and speed.

"I saw the match against West Ham and I realised that this time Guardiola has no excuse: he has to win the Champions League.

"Even if, in the end, they'll tell him that he [only] won the Champions League first with [Lionel] Messi and then with Haaland."

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    The Dutchman oversaw his first win since replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring the only goal in Pittsburgh.

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    "It's always a pity if he has to go off after 25 minutes, half an hour. And before that, you could see that he was not completely free.

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  • Guardiola 'would love to stay' at Man City beyond 2025 Guardiola 'would love to stay' at Man City beyond 2025

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    Guardiola was speaking ahead of City facing Milan in the second match of their pre-season tour of the United States, to take place at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

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