Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is clearly a confident man, but even he looked surprised by the moment of magic he produced as his team thrashed Sparta Praha in the Champions League Wednesday.
While the 5-0 win is somewhat routine given City’s domination in recent years, Haaland’s goal was anything but ordinary.
Already ahead after Phil Foden’s early strike, Pep Guardiola’s side was pushing for another goal to settle the nerves. Just when frustration seemed to be growing, up stepped the Norwegian superstar in the 58th minute.
Brazilian winger Savinho had put a hopeful cross into the box, but it came towards Haaland at a tricky angle. While many strikers might have let the ball go by, the 24-year-old had other ideas.
The striker leaped into the air – with his back towards goal – and produced an acrobatic, backheel volley which bounced off the turf and into the corner of the net.
Even his own teammates were left scratching their heads at how Haaland managed to pull the finish off.
“It was an amazing goal,” City star Matheus Nunes told TNT Sports after the game. “I was speechless after that shot.”
Haaland had scored a similar goal in the same competition against Borussia Dortmund two years ago, but his effort on Wednesday was arguably even more acrobatic.
“Yeah, against Dortmund, it was quite similar. For a human being, it’s not normal,” City boss Guardiola told reporters after the win.
“It’s unbelievable the talent this guy has. When Erling gets in behind, he is unstoppable.”
City star Foden was also left stunned by his teammate’s ability to score from seemingly any situation.
“I just spoke to him and said, ‘If I tried to do that, I’d pull my groin.’ I don’t know how he does it,” Foden told TNT Sports after the match.
“I think it’s just how long his legs are. He’s a freak. I’ve seen him score one similar against Borussia Dortmund, so it shows that he has this talent that no one else can do.”
Haaland doubled his tally for the night in the 68th minute with a fine finish, with John Stones and Nunes also on the scoresheet for City.
The team now moves up to third in the Champions League table, as it bids to win the club’s second European title.
Barça thrashes Bayern
Elsewhere in the Champions League, Barcelona thrashed Bayern Munich 4-1 on Wednesday at Montjuïc.
Winger Raphinha opened the scoring after just 57 seconds, rounding the goalkeeper after running through unmarked.
Bayern did equalize through Harry Kane but then fell apart as Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski put Barça 3-1 up by the break.
The Brazilian forward then completed his hat-trick to heap more pressure on the German side, which has struggled in the Champions League this season.
Vincent Kompany’s team now sits 23rd in the league phase, having lost its last two matches in the tournament. The Blaugrana, meanwhile, move up to 10th.
Another notable result from Wednesday’s round of fixtures was Liverpool beating RB Leipzig to maintain its perfect start to this season’s Champions League campaign.
Darwin Núñez scored the only goal of the game in the 27th minute as Arne Slot’s side produced a professional away performance.
Despite controlling large parts of the game, Liverpool still had to rely on goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher who made a number of fine saves. RB Leipzig also had two goals rightly ruled out for offside.
The win means that the Reds, for the first time in the club’s 132-year history, have won their opening six away matches and 11 of 12 games overall to open the season.
Liverpool now sits joint-top with English Premier League rivals Aston Villa in the Champions League table.