Manchester City demolished RB Leipzig 7-0 in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie at the Etihad Stadium to book their place into the quarterfinals. Their exceptional striker, Erling Haaland scored an outstanding five goals in the game in a magnificent performance. The Premier League champions played a 1-1 draw with the Bundesliga outfit in the first leg in Germany where Riyad Mahrez’s first-half opener was canceled out by Josko Gvardiol’s equalizer 20 minutes from time from a corner. There was no escaping for RB Leipzig in the return leg as they hardly thought of such a thrashing on their trip to Manchester.
City were relentless from the off with Ilkay Gundogan skiing his volley from close range and Haaland testing the opposition goalkeeper Janis Blaswich within eleven minutes of the game. It did not take long for Pep Guardiola’s side to get on the scoresheet with the Norwegian goal-machine converting a spot-kick in the 22nd minute after defender Benjamin Henrichs was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box. Four minutes later, he added another one to his tally before completing his hat trick toward the end of the first half. Remarkably, Haaland went on to score two more in the second half after Gundogan got City’s fourth of the evening right after the restart. Kevin De Bruyne then finished the goal-fest in injury time.
Manchester City showed how ruthless they can be when at their very best. This victory surely puts them high on the favorite list to win the competition this time out, a trophy the English side desperately craves. Along with that, City set a lot of records on another incredible night of the Champions League.
Equaling biggest win
With the incredible 7-0 victory, Manchester City equaled their biggest win in the Champions League after also putting seven goals past a German side against FC Schalke in March 2019. City have now won the last 10 games in a row facing an opponent from Germany at home.
Third to score five
Erling Haaland became only the third player in the competition to score five goals in a single game after Luiz Adriano did for Shakhtar Donetsk against Bate Borisov in 2014 and a certain Lionel Messi in March 2012 against Bayer Leverkusen in an eventual 7-1 victory. German sides can’t avoid thrashing by world-class forwards as it seems.
Fewer to reach 30
30 - Erling Haaland has scored 30 goals in 25 games in the UEFA Champions League, reaching this milestone in fewer matches than any other player, while he is also the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the competition’s history (22y 236d). Powerhouse. pic.twitter.com/13vKCvQdvY
The Norwegian also took fewer matches in the Champions League (25) to score 30 goals while he is also the youngest ever, aged 22 years and 236 days, to reach that milestone in the competition's history. Haaland has scored the most Champions League goals for Manchester City in a single season as well with 10 and is only the second player, after Robert Lewandowski, to do so for two different clubs after doing it for Borussia Dortmund.
Longest unbeaten home run
The longest unbeaten home runs in Champions League history:
38 - Barcelona (2013-2020)
29 - Bayern (1998-2002)
24 - Arsenal (2004-2009)
24 - Man City (2018-)
The run goes on. #UCL pic.twitter.com/zSHS5FAiyH
Manchester City have leveled up with Arsenal in terms of the longest unbeaten home run record made by an English side in the Champions League with 24 games. The Gunners kept that record from 2004 to 2009 under Arsene Wenger while the Sky Blues are maintaining the streak from 2018.
Horror Four
RB Leipzig have lost each of their last four meetings against an English side on the road in the Champions League. They have conceded 20 goals with an average of 5 per game. Obviously, the 7-0 thrashing was the joint-highest defeat by a German side.
