The reason for Haaland's absence from the Real Madrid match

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed the reason behind the absence of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from his team's starting lineup against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 play-off. Guardiola surprised everyone by putting Haaland on the bench, while assigning the Egyptian Omar Marmoush to lead the team's attack. According to reports from the BBC, the Spanish coach's decision came as a result of Haaland suffering from a knee injury he sustained during the recent match against Newcastle in the English Premier League. Guardiola confirmed that the player was not in his best physical condition, explaining: "Haaland was not fully ready. He trained for a short period yesterday, but he felt uncomfortable, so we decided to push another player instead." Haaland had suffered a knee injury during Manchester City's 4-0 victory over Newcastle, in a match that saw Omar Marmoush shine by scoring three goals (a hat-trick). It is noteworthy that Real Madrid had won the first leg 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium, which makes the second leg more exciting and anticipated between the two teams.