Manchester City: Why critics are wrong that Erling Haaland is a ‘big game bottler’

It can often hard to shake a label once the football cognoscenti has made their mind up on something. 

In a landscape where every match, every decision, every strike and every off-the-ball movement are analysed within an inch of its life, it sometimes feels like the same old debates come up time and time again. 

On the back of a disappointing performance in Manchester City’s first-leg draw with Real Madrid, the issue of whether Erling Haaland can deliver the goods in a big match is once again under the spotlight. 

The Norwegian was named ‘flop of the match’ by French newspaper L’Equipe, claiming his performance ‘confirmed his immense difficulties in very high level matches’ and awarded him a three out of ten rating.