Seven games without an open-play goal: What's happened to Erling Haaland?!

Pep Guardiola might have been hoping to offer Haaland a rest for City's penultimate game of the Champions League's league phase, given the striker has played 30 out of a possible 32 games this season while racking up 2,480 minutes on the pitch, 239 more than any of his team-mates. But the coach does not have that luxury. 

Guardiola was scarred by City's near capitulation in the competition last season as they barely snuck into the play-offs before being bludgeoned by Real Madrid as the team exited the competition before the last 16 for the first time since 2012, while Guardiola did so for the first time ever. 

Even though City are fourth in the current Champions League table, just one point separates them from ninth-placed Liverpool and the possibility of having to play another play-off tie. 

As much as Guardiola might want to rest Haaland against Bodo, the manager cannot afford to not play the striker who has scored six goals in his five Champions League starts this term.

For the past month, meanwhile, he has had little alternative but to play the Norwegian due to Omar Marmoush going all the way to the semi-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. Marmoush's absence left Haaland as City's only natural centre-forward and meant that he even had to start against Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, the first time he had played in the competition since joining City in 2022.

He also was named to Guardiola's line up against Exeter City in the FA Cup, marking the first time Haaland has played a third-round tie, although he was taken off at half-time.

Before the Manchester derby, Guardiola admitted that Haaland was "exhausted", but conceded that he had contributed to the Premier League's top scorer reaching this state as he had used Marmoush so little when he was available, handing the £59-million man only four starts in all competitions. The only games Haaland sat out completely were the Carabao Cup ties at Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, while he began the Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen on the bench. 

Given how badly that game went, with City losing 2-0 despite Guardiola turning to his big-name players in the second half, you can see why he wanted to use Haaland as much as possible. But equally, he had to know there would be physical consequences from squeezing him so much.

Marmoush travelled with City to Norway, but it would be a mistake to think that he returns as some sort of saviour who can kickstart their pursuit of Arsenal in the title race. As Guardiola said, "Omar is an exceptional player, his moments in behind are extraordinary, but it would be so poor from me to say the reason why we didn’t get a result here or the previous ones is because Omar is not here. It’s not fair for him and it’s not fair for the team and all the guys that are here. We need to do it."

What Marmoush can do though is reduce the burden on Haaland in terms of both goals and minutes. He can also make City more unpredictable so that teams cannot just focus on shutting down the Norwegian, as Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire did so effectively at Old Trafford as they blocked the only two shots Haaland could muster before he was taken off in the 80th minute. 

His performance made a mockery of Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt laughing at Martinez before the game while predicting that Haaland would "pick him up and run with him".

And yet Guardiola was reluctant to talk about resting Haaland any time soon. He said after the derby: "We need Erling and all of them. Erling is so important to us. We are lucky we have Erling this season for what he has done. It’s important when you have games every three days, three days, three days to sustain it a lot."

Haaland, however, has found it hard to maintain his incredible early-season form. Going all in on the Norwegian proved a wise move for City earlier in the campaign as he struck 24 times in his first 23 matches. But his lifeless display against United - his sixth game in 17 days of 2026 - showed that the relentless churn of matches is taking its toll on him. 

This is not the first quiet run Haaland has been on during his City career, and it won't be his last either. Nor, though, is it likely to last too long. Bodo have not played a competitive match since their last Champions League game with Borussia Dortmund on December 10 due to the Eliteserien being in its off season before the 2026 campaign gets under way in March. 

Once City return from Norway, they face a home game against Wolves, still the weakest team in the Premier League despite being on an unbeaten run of five matches. They will then host Galatasaray in their final game of the league phase, and that would be a good time to rest Haaland if they are already through to the last 16. They then visit Tottenham and Liverpool for crucial games if they want to keep Arsenal in check, either side of their Carabao second leg with Newcastle. 

With City leading the Magpies 2-0 in the tie and with home advantage, that would also be a good occasion for Haaland to have a night off. The world's most prolific striker might seem superhuman, but he needs to be managed carefully just like any other player. Despite Guardiola feeling like he needs Haaland in every match, making him sit out a couple of games is the key to getting his best player back to his old self.