Guardiola Reveals Why He Was Forced To Substitute Haaland In 0-0 Draw With Dortmund

Pep Guardiola has revealed why he substituted in-form Erling Haaland at half-time against Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League Group G meeting.

After Manchester City defeated Dortmund 2-1 at Etihad, Guardiola's side was held at a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture at Signal Iduna Park Tuesday. Haaland, who has netted record-breaking 22 goals in his first 15 competitive appearances for Man City, only had 13 touches and one blocked shot and was eventually replaced by Bernardo Silva at the break.

In a post-match interview, Guardiola revealed that Haaland could not continue further because he had a fever and he had also picked up a knock in the first half.

When the Spanish boss was asked if Haaland's knock was serious, Guardiola replied, "I don't know right now."

"[There were] three things. I saw him so tired. The second one, he had a little bit of influenza in his body. Like Joao — Joao had a fever. Then the third, he had a knock in his foot. That's why he was not able to play the second half. I spoke with [the medical staff] at half-time and they were a little bit concerned, but I saw him walking more or less normally. We will see," Guardiola added in the same interview.

With 11 points in five games, Manchester City are at the top of Group G in the 2022-23 Champions League; they are three points clear at the top of the table.

Out of Haaland's 22 goals, 17 have come in the Premier League in just 11 games as defending champions City are placed second in the table. They have 26 points from 11 league games and are just two points behind leaders Arsenal.

Haaland, who has established himself as one of the best strikers at the moment, moved from Dortmund to Manchester City in the summer of 2022. Having played senior soccer for Molde, RB Salzburg, Dortmund and now City, Haaland has overall scored 110 goals and 33 assists in 133 games in all competitions.

City are scheduled to take a trip to Leicester Saturday (Oct. 29) for an away Premier League fixture. Next week, City are set to host Sevilla in their final Champions League group game on Nov. 2.