Pep Guardiola stunned by Erling Haaland theory as Jamie Carragher defends himself over Man City comments

Jamie Carragher has defended himself after Pep Guardiola was left shocked by his theory that Erling Haaland missed the Manchester City vs Real Madrid clash on Wednesday due to not wanting to play against Antonio Rudiger.

Man City were knocked out of the Champions League as Real Madrid picked up a 6-3 aggregate win to reach the round of 16, where they will face rivals Atletico Madrid. City’s chances of making it through to the next round diminished when they conceded two late goals in the first leg and lost 3-2.

Kylian Mbappe netted a brilliant hat-trick in the second leg as Madrid made a statement in the competition and sent Guardiola’s side packing.

City’s chances of a memorable comeback victory at the Bernabeu were significantly reduced by the fact star man Haaland was missing. The striker told Guardiola he was not fit to play after suffering a knee injury against Newcastle United.

On CBS Sports, Carragher suggested that Haaland did not want to face Rudiger.

He said: “Let me work this out, Haaland has gone to the manager in the morning and said he’s not fit?

“Do you think that’s got something to do with Rudiger? Is that because Rudiger is playing?

“He’s on the bench so he can’t be injured. I never went to see the manager on the morning of a game and said I’m not fit.

“So he’s injured, is he? It’s Rudiger-itis is it? Is that what we’re saying here?”

Ahead of City’s crucial Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, Guardiola was asked about Carragher’s theory. He replied: “Oh, God, did he say that? Jamie Carragher said that? Oh God.

“Don’t laugh. I don’t know why he makes that suspicious, you know that? Did he say that Haaland didn’t want to play the game? It’s not nice – and it’s not true.

“He (Haaland) was crazy to play the game. He had a problem with his knee and he could not play.”

Carragher explains comments

But Carragher has since hit out at the journalist who asked Guardiola about his comments, stating that it was a joke.

On X, formerly Twitter, the pundit wrote: ‘It was a joke to wind up Micah Richards as that’s the nature of our show on CBS. And you know that @MullockSMirror.

‘But you just thought let’s get a big headline for my piece! Typical Sunday papers!’

At the press conference, Guardiola refused to state whether Haaland will or will not feature against Liverpool. City assessed Haaland on Saturday to see if he is fit to start.

Guardiola added that John Stones – who picked up a thigh injury against Madrid – will find out ‘in the next days’ if he needs to undergo surgery.

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Man City news: Guimaraes update; Hernandez blow

Meanwhile, City are on alert after finding out how they can sign Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle.

Sources have informed TEAMtalk that there is a verbal pact between Guimaraes and Newcastle which means he can leave for £85m this summer if the Magpies do not qualify for next season’s Champions League.

While City have been given a boost in their chase to sign Guimaraes, there is bad news regarding their interest in AC Milan star Theo Hernandez.

Spanish reports claim the left-back is prepared to reject City as he would rather return to Madrid.

QUIZ: Think you know Erling Haaland?