Perhaps this, at last, will be Manchester City’s year. It was seriously tested by Bayern and put under unfamiliar pressure at the back, but was able to handle it. Bayern was not. There wasn’t much in it, there were chances at both ends, but City stood firm and managed to force Bayern into mistakes and the result is that it won the first leg of its Champions League quarterfinal, 3–0.
Manchester City has looked on course for European glory before, never more so than last season when it capitulated late in the semifinal against Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti’s side will stand in the way again if it gets by Chelsea in its quarterfinal—assuming nothing unexpected happens in Munich next Wednesday. But this time, City has Erling Haaland. He may have changed how City play, may have made it more direct with an impact on its efforts to control games, but he adds an edge that means when games become a shootout, he offers a firepower that City has at times lacked.
Haaland’s goal was his 11th in seven Champions League games this season and took him to a new all-competitions record for a Premier League player in a single season with 45. He could have as many as 15 more games to play. His goals make him phenomenal, but his influence goes beyond that. He affects how defenders play and that creates space for others and, after a slight dip earlier in the year, he is back in the exceptional form of the autumn.
