Haaland hails 'important' Real Madrid victory | OneFootball

Erling Haaland hailed a famous 2-1 UEFA Champions League triumph at Real Madrid as a ‘really important win’ for City.

Men's Team

O'Reilly 'over the moon' after vital Real Madrid strike

The Norwegian converted a late first half penalty to seal what was only our second ever victory at the Bernabeu and one that fired Pep Guardiola’s side up into fourth place in the Champions League composite table.

After an impressive first half hour, the hosts had taken a lead through Rodrygo’s shot before City regrouped and drew level through Nico O’Reilly’s first-ever goal in the Champions League.

Then, just before the break, City were awarded a penalty after a VAR check by referee Clement Turpin ruled that Haaland had been fouled by Antonio Rudiger, the Norwegian making no mistake from the spot for his 55th Champions League strike.

Reflecting on the result, he pointed to its overall significance.

“This win is really important,” Haaland said.

“It’s difficult to come here. It’s a tough place to come.

LEVEL BEST: Nico O'Reilly celebrates his equaliser

Match Report

City hit back to win Champions League thriller at Real Madrid

“We could have added another goal but the game was a bit chaotic.

“It’s a nice place to play. Look at this place it’s incredible. These are the games we want to play. In this format we get to play more games which is nice. And I like it.

“In the end we’re super happy.

“It could have looked completely different today if we didn’t win because we lost to Bayer Leverkusen.

“We have two more games left, we need to finish strong and hopefully we can be in the first eight so we’re through [straight to the knockout stages].”

Haaland was at the thick of things for City and was involved in an intriguing battle with Rudiger all night long.

And he admitted it was a physical challenge he had relished.

SQUAD GOALS: The City team prior to kick-off

Picture Special

Gallery: O'Reilly on target in Madrid!

“You want to play against the best players,” Haaland added.

“You could see after one minute, Asensio was pushing me and trying to beef with me. It’s something I like, personally, I don’t mind it.

“We’ve had great battles with Rudiger and today he wanted a bit too much. He pulled me, so for me a clear penalty.”

The win came on the back of three straight league successes for City which have seen us narrow the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to just two points.

However, for Haaland, the focus is purely on performance and seeking to get better as a team.

“I don’t like to speak too much about this because I think we should focus on ourselves which City have been so good at over the last 10 years,” Erling added.

“Just focus on winning our next game, Crystal Palace on Sunday, which is a really tough game.

“We need to take it game by game.

“We can enjoy this for a few hours, and it’s about staying fit and take it game by game and hopefully win on Sunday.”