Pep Guardiola has expressed his disgust at TV pundit Jamie Carragher after he appeared to question whether Erling Haaland skipped Wednesday night’s Champions League exit against Real Madrid because he was intimidated by facing defender Antonio Rudiger.
Haaland, who suffered a knee injury against Newcastle last weekend, was named among City’s substitutes in the Bernabeu but did not come on as Guardiola’s men crashed out 6-3 on aggregate. He remains a doubt for Sunday’s Premier League clash against Liverpool.
Speaking on American network CBS, Carragher said: ‘Let me work this out, Haaland has gone to the manager in the morning and said he’s not fit?
‘Do you think that’s got something to do with Rudiger? Is that because Rudiger is playing?
‘He’s on the bench so he can’t be injured. I never went to see the manager on the morning of a game and said I’m not fit.
‘So he’s injured, is he? It’s Rudiger-itis is it? Is that what we’re saying here?’
Erling Haaland (left) pictured clashing with Antonio Rudiger (right) during a game last season
Jamie Carragher suggested, perhaps in jest, that Haaland did not want to face Rudiger again
Man City manager Pep Guardiola was furious when he learned about Carragher’s comments
Former City player and Carragher’s co-analyst Micah Richards immediately rebuked the idea, retorting: ‘Come on Jamie, you’re better than that.’
And Guardiola’s face was filled with anger when the subject of the comments were raised.
‘Oh, God, did he say that? Jamie Carragher said that? Oh God.’ said the City boss.
‘Don’t laugh. I don’t know why he makes that suspicious, you know that? Did he say that Haaland didn’t want to play the game? It’s not nice – and it’s not true.
‘He (Haaland) was crazy to play the game. He had a problem with his knee and he could not play.’
Guardiola then left the media room fearing he would escalate the issue even further if he continued to speak.
Haaland played against Rudiger in 2023 when Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-0 to reach the Champions League final which they won.
