Erling Haaland explains why he was ‘not happy’ with Kylian Mbappe being on the bench for Real Madrid against Manchester City

Erling Haaland said he was unhappy to see Kylian Mbappe on the bench for Real Madrid against Manchester City, admitting that he had been looking forward to facing the French superstar on the pitch. The two teams faced off in the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Mbappe was an unused substitute against City after fracturing his finger, followed by muscle discomfort against Celta Vigo. His absence was felt as Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 loss at home, which saw them pick up their first consecutive defeat of the season after a 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Speaking after the match, Haaland admitted that Mbappe’s absence gave Manchester City ‘a bit of psychological boost’ but insisted that he was disappointed with his opposite number’s unavailability for the match. He told TNT Sports:

“We know about their injuries; we have some too but they have many. You don't want anyone to be injured but we expected him to play. I expected to come up against Kylian today. But when a player like that is out - you're not happy because you want to play the best - but it gives you a bit of a psychological boost.

“You want to play the best players and after one minute [Raul] Asencio was trying to push me and beef with me which I like personally - I don't mind it. With Antonio Rudiger as well we have had some great battles, but today he wanted it too much and we got the penalty.”

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are two of the leading top scorers in the ongoing UCL campaign. The former sits joint-second with six goals, while the latter leads the chart with nine goals.

Erling Haaland says it’s ‘difficult’ to play at the Santiago Bernabeu after Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid

In the same post-match chat with TNT Sports, Erling Haaland admitted that playing at the Bernabeu was tough. The Norwegian striker scored City’s second goal, which was his first at the stadium in his third visit. He said:

“Difficult to come here, it's a tough place. The game was a bit chaotic, we couldn't really control it. We get the win in the end, super happy. This is a place you want to play, these are games you want to play. With this new format in Champions League, you get to play more games which is nice. I like it.

“It could have looked completely different today if we didn't win because of the Leverkusen defeat, this win is really important. Two more games left. We need to finish strong and hopefully we can be in the first eight because then we're through.”

The result saw City leapfrog Real Madrid from 12th to fourth in the table. Xabi Alonso’s side, on the other hand, slipped one place, dropping from sixth to seventh.