Erling Haaland has been dropped to the bench for Manchester City‘s crucial Champions League playoff second-leg clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday.
City are in need of firepower in attack as they seek to overturn a 3-2 deficit from the first leg. However, manager Pep Guardiola opted to leave club top scorer Haaland on the bench.
Haaland scored against Madrid for the first time in their previous meeting — the two sides have met in the Champions League knockout stages in each of the past three years.
The Norway international has eight goals in nine games in the Champions League season, the third-best mark in the competition.
This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.