Erling Haaland reveals Kylian Mbappe 'disappointment' after Man City win at Bernabeu

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·10 dicembre 2025

Erling Haaland reveals Kylian Mbappe 'disappointment' after Man City win at Bernabeu

Norwegian scored winner but was denied opportunity to face Los Blancos star

Erling Haaland said he was disappointed not to see Kylian Mbappe on the team sheet as Man City faced Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.

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Haaland scored from the spot shortly before half-time to put City 2-1 up, a scoreline which held through a goalless second period, though fans were denied the chance to see two of the best strikers in the game square off.

Mbappe, suffering with a broken finger and a muscle problem, was named to the bench at the Bernabeu and played no part in the match, but Haaland played down the boost City got from the news of his exclusion.

"We know about their injuries, we have some too but they have many,” he told TNT Sports at full-time.

“You don't want anyone to be injured but we expected him to play. I expected to come up against Kylian today. But when a player like that is out - you're not happy because you want to play the best - but it gives you a bit of a psychological boost.

"You want to play the best players and after one minute [Raul] Asencio was trying to push me and beef with me which I like personally - I don't mind it. With Antonio Rudiger as well we have had some great battles, but today he wanted it too much and we got the penalty."

Asked whether the result could inspire City to chase down Arsenal in the Premier League, he was non-committal, saying he was simply focused on Sunday’s trip to face Crystal Palace.

"I don't like to speak to much on this because we should focus on ourselves and City have been so good at that for 10 years, don't think about others and focus on ourselves. Now we need to focus on Sunday - who is it? Palace on Sunday - games are coming fast.

“Look at the schedule, it's incredible and it's about staying fit and taking it game by game and hopefully winning on Sunday."