Haaland highlights UCL difficulty following Monaco draw | OneFootball

Erling Haaland has emphasised the toughness of the UEFA Champions League after City were forced to settle for a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw with AS Monaco.

The Norwegian flicked us ahead expertly after 15 minutes with his first touch of the game, before the hosts levelled with a stunning 20-yard strike from Jordan Teze.

Just before the interval, Phil Foden struck the bar, before Haaland headed us back ahead with his 52nd Champions League goal in his 50th appearance in the competition.

Tijjani Reijnders rattled the crossbar with 20 minutes left to play, before Haaland was denied a hat-trick by a superb sprawling save from Philipp Kohn.

A lengthy VAR review in the final minutes led to Nico being penalised for a high boot inside the box, with Eric Dier stepping up to level in the 90th minute.

The Blues dominated possession (71%) and shots on target (6) but had to settle for a point, and Haaland believes this proves the tough nature of the prestigious competition.

"Every Champions League game is tough," he declared after the game. "Look at last year we went out.

"Every single game is tough. Not many teams won their first two games and that’s how it is.

"Of course I don’t feel good. We didn’t win and we did something unnecessary in the second half and I don’t think we played good enough. We don’t deserve to win.

"We need more energy. We need to get at them more as we did in the first half, we dominated much more. In the second half they took the lead much more."

gallery: haaland stars in monaco draw

The striker netted his first-half brace from just seven touches of the ball, taking him into the top 10 scorers in the competition's history, and when quizzed about his involvement in the game, Haaland stressed that his value to the team goes beyond just touches of the ball.

"I still think I'm involved in the game, doing movements and giving space to others. It’s not just about touching the ball.

"You can be involved in the game in many other ways. That’s my job. I did my job in the first half, in the second half I didn’t.

"I didn’t score, I didn’t finish the game."