Erling Haaland has been hailed as superhuman and backed to lead Manchester City to Champions League glory after scoring two more goals.
Jack Grealish was awestruck by Haaland and says shellshocked FC Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara told him “he’s not human”.
Haaland’s double took his tally to 19 in 11 City games and Grealish said: “It’s unbelievable honestly. I’ve never witnessed anything like it in my life.
“For the first and second goals, I was just laughing. He’s always there. The keeper said something to me as I was walking back. He said ‘he’s not human’. I said ‘you’re telling me!’. Hopefully he can carry on this form and take us to glory.”
City boss Pep Guardiola rubbished reports from Spain that Haaland has a release clause to allow him to join Real Madrid next year. “It’s not true,” he said. “He has no release clause for Real Madrid or any other club.
“What’s important is he’s adapted really well. I have the feeling he is incredibly happy here. In the end, what happens in the future, nobody knows.
“What’s important is he’s happy. He is incredibly beloved by everyone and that’s the most important thing.”
Guardiola defended his decision to take Haaland off at half-time when he was on another hat-trick. “Honestly, what Erling wants most is to win the game,” he said. “Of course he wants more minutes and to have more chances, but we need everyone involved.”
Kyle Walker could be a doubt for the World Cup after Guardiola claimed he would be out for a number of weeks with an abdominal injury. Honestly, I don’t know, I can’t say, I’m not a doctor,” he said. “The club may make a statement.”
FC Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup admitted his Danish champions were outclassed and said: “We have to accept we were playing against the best team in the world right now.”
