Man City allowed Haaland to sit out match to regain ‘true rhythm’ ahead of Madrid clash.

Pep Guardiola stated that he allowed Erling Haaland to sit out the match against Newcastle United to help the forward regain his “pace” ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League match against Real Madrid.

Haaland was not included in the squad for the 3-1 victory in the FA Cup at St James’ Park on Saturday.

The decision was made for the striker to stay in Manchester for training instead of traveling to Newcastle as he continues to recover from the injury that caused him to miss a 1-0 win over Leeds United on February 28.

Haaland is expected to be part of the team traveling to Madrid on Tuesday in preparation for the Champions League last-16 first leg at the Bernabeu.

“I didn’t consider letting him play, and I prefer him training to establish a rhythm,” Guardiola remarked. “After an injury, when he drops, he always finds it challenging to regain that true pace.”

City heads to Madrid on an unbeaten streak of 11 matches since their 2-0 loss to Bodo/Glimt in January.

Guardiola’s Champions League campaign has been strengthened by the eligibility of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi, who joined the team in January, along with the return of several players from injury.

Jérémy Doku, Savinho, Nico González, John Stones, and Nathan Aké all featured against Newcastle after periods on the sidelines.

“We have experience from the treble — you need to reach the crucial moments of the season with players,” Guardiola noted.

“It’s unfortunate that the Premier League is not within our control. That was a significant setback against Nottingham, but we must not dwell on it, recover, head to Madrid, make a good selection, and hopefully, we can perform — win or lose — in the manner we are accustomed to.”

“That has always been my emphasis; when we compete on the grandest stages against top teams, it’s not solely about winning or losing but about being true to ourselves as individuals and as a team.”