Haaland: 'Few people can perform at their best in 70 games per season'

According to Man City striker Erling Haaland, players today have to play too much, and do not even have enough time to recover physically.

"We saw how tired the players were at Euro 2024 and other tournaments. Many didn't even have enough time to rest after a stressful season. You could see it clearly in their performance and even on their faces," Haaland said when he and Man City traveled to the US to tour ahead of the 2024-2025 season.

Haaland is not playing in Euro 2024, so he has more time to rest than most of his teammates at Man City. The Norwegian striker played and scored in the loss to Celtic on July 24, as well as the 2-3 loss to Milan on July 27. In these two matches, Haaland played alongside young players and those who did not play in Euro or Copa America 2024 such as Jack Grealish and Ederson.

Haaland scored for Man City in a friendly against Celtic on July 24. Photo: Man City

Man City players and their national teams who advanced deep into the two tournaments mentioned above are still on compensatory leave. In fact, Julian Alvarez is playing for Argentina at the 2024 Paris Olympics, after participating in the Copa America.

"Next season will be the same. The schedule is still very intense and that really affects us. The players cannot play well in all the matches. We still try, but it is difficult to maintain high performance when having to play more than 70 matches per season," Haaland lamented.

Man City won their fourth consecutive Premier League title last season, but were unable to defend their Champions League title. They lost to eventual champions Real Madrid on penalties in the quarter-finals. In the second leg of the tie, Haaland missed a golden opportunity with a shot that hit the crossbar.

Asked what Man City lacked to win the Champions League for the second time, Haaland said: "I don't think we lacked anything. Man City were the Champions League contenders for the last three years with one title. We also won the Premier League four years in a row. What the club has done in the last six years is fantastic. In the Champions League, the line between winning and losing is very thin. If my header had gone into the net, the result could have been completely different."

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