The covert explanation for why Erling Haaland was replaced by Julian Alvarez at the 91st minute of the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Real Madrid

One of the three players who informed Pep Guardiola that they were unable to continue playing against Real Madrid was Erling Haaland, who plays for Manchester City.

Before the official start of extra time, Erling Haaland made a request to be removed from the Champions League match between Manchester City and Real Madrid.

After 90 minutes of play in the European quarterfinal, Haaland was unexpectedly taken out of the game and replaced by Julian Alvarez. Alvarez played the last 30 minutes of the match or the penalty shootout that followed. They were replaced by Mateo Kovacic and John Stones after Kevin De Bruyne and Manu Akanji were taken off the field during the second period of extra time.

Pep Guardiola revealed after the game that all three players had informed him that they needed to be taken off the field despite the fact that Haaland appeared to be limping off the field. City must hope that all three players will be able to heal in time to be ready for the FA Cup semi-final match against Chelsea, which is playing in less than three days.

“Erling and Kevin put in a request for me to go out. It was impossible for them to continue, just like Manu,” the manager explained. I’m not a huge supporter of making so many substitutes, but Kevin, Erling, and Manu urged me to leave because they were unable to continue playing. They were playing so well that I couldn’t ignore them.

“We are going to have a break right now, and then we will return tomorrow. On Friday, we will drive to London to play the game. Let’s wait and see. It is the semi-final of the FA Cup, and we will make every effort to compete as much as possible. Of course, we will observe how people react, and it is easy to recover from defeat than it is to recover from defeat.