Pep Guardiola summed up the difference between Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi after Manchester City’s convincing 6-3 win over Manchester United on Sunday.
Haland enjoyed a dream start in life citywho scored a remarkable 17 goals in his first 11 appearances for the Premier League champions.
The 22-year-old scored a hat-trick against United and subsequently became the first player to score three consecutive hat-tricks at home in the Premier League.
Haaland only needed eight games to score three goals First League hat tricks and broke Michael Owen’s record of 48 games.
Haaland also became the 14th player to earn a 10/10 rating from L’Equipe’s notoriously difficult-to-please judges.
Not even the Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo managed to get a perfect 10 from the guys of the prestigious French publication.
Continue reading: Haaland, Messi, Neymar: 14 players have now received a 10/10 rating from L’Equipe
What did Pep say about the difference between Haaland and Messi?
Lionel Messi is the only footballer to have received two 10s from L’Equipe and Guardiola was asked if he felt the same way about Haaland as he does about the man widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time.
The interviewer said of Guardiola: “He’s a different player but when you had Leo Messi you always expected him to go out and score every game, do you feel that about Erling Haaland?”
Speaking on beIN Sports, Guardiola replied: “The difference is Erling might need all his mates you know, but when he arrives… amazing.
“Messi had the ability to do it himself.”
Video: Pep Guardiola on the difference between Haaland and Messi
Watch the clip here:
Pep has made no secret that he believes Messi, with whom he had so much success at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, is on a completely different level than any other footballer in history.
And despite working with Haaland and witnessing the Norwegian’s greatness in recent months, Guardiola still believes Messi is in a league of his own due to that incredibly rare ability to win games single-handedly.
How well has Lionel Messi played this season?
At the age of 35, Messi is still undoubtedly one of the best players – if not the best player – in world football.
In 12 appearances for Paris St Germain This season, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored seven goals and provided a further eight assists.
The phenomenal Argentina striker is expected to head into next month’s World Cup full of confidence and playing his best football since his departure Barcelona in 2021.