Erling Haaland did not expect much success with Man City in his first season with the club.

“This is a special moment,” Haaland said in London on the evening of May 25, when accepting the award for the best player in the Premier League this season voted by the Football Journalists Association (FWA). “Joining a club that has scored a lot of goals and won the Premier League many times, I expected to do good things but didn’t expect it to be so good. It has been a great season and I am very happy. fun”.

The Norwegian striker said he has many friends and enjoys life in Manchester both on and off the pitch. “We joke a lot, enjoy it in the dressing room and on the pitch. I enjoy it and there are a lot of good players in the team,” Haaland added.

In the poll with more than 800 members of FWA, Haaland won overwhelmingly with more than 80% of the total votes – a record in Premier League history. Behind are Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Kevin de Bruyne (Man City), and Marcus Rashford (Man Utd).

After landing at Man City for $ 63 million, Haaland quickly integrated, scoring 52 goals in 51 matches in all competitions. In the Premier League alone, the Norwegian striker scored 36 goals and broke the record for most goals in a season held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole (with 34 goals). Haaland helped Man City overcome Arsenal at the decisive stage to win the title for the third time in a row.

“Honestly, it’s important to focus on each game, on yourself,” said the 22-year-old striker. “I don’t like to think about the future or the past. I like to live in the moment and I like to make the most of every game, just like what Guardiola said we had to do, and that’s what we did. I focus and get what I want.”

Haaland also considers the f/a/c/t that Man City united to make a spectacular sprint and then win the championship despite being behind Arsenal for almost the entire Premier League season as “extraordinary”.

Haaland praised Guardiola, calling the achievement of winning the Premier League five times in the last six seasons “unbelievable”, and feeling honored to play under the Spanish coach. He added: “He makes everything look so easy on the training ground and in games. It’s c/r/a/z/y what he’s doing, what he makes us do, and how well he plays.”

Guardiola: ‘Inter can beat Man City

Pep Guardiola is impressed with his colleague Simone Inzaghi and thinks that Inter can b/e/a/t Man City in the Champions League final.

“I started watching Inter matches and was very impressed with some situations,” Guardiola told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport on May 23. “After watching, I called some friends in Italy to ask what they thought. They all told me to be careful and they were serious. I understood after watching those minutes and situations of Inter. “.

In the semi-finals, Inter crushed the club in the same city of Milan with a total score of 3-0 to reach the final for the first time since the 2009-2010 season to eat three legends under Jose Mourinho. Thanks to that, Inzaghi became the second Italian coach in history to lead Inter to the final of the European Cup/Champions League, after Giovanni Invernizzi in 1972. He had the opportunity to help Inter win the fourth European Cup/Champions Cup. League, after the 1963-1964, 1964-1965, and 2009-2010 seasons.

Guardiola has not been able to help Man City to the throne in the continental arena, despite three consecutive Champions League semi-finals. In particular, the best achievement is when Man City reached the final in 2021, where they lost to Chelsea 0-1 because of Kai Havertz’s only goal. Guardiola has also not been able to win this title after being crowned twice with Barca in 2009 and 2011.

“Of course, Inter can b/e/a/t us. They have won this title three times, and Man City has never done it. But we want to play better so that doesn’t happen again,” Guardiola emphasized.

For the first time since the 1993-1994 season, Italian football featured three representatives in the European finals for the first time. In addition to Inter in the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s Roma will meet Sevilla in the Europa League title match at Puskas Stadium, Budapest, Hungary on the evening of May 31, while Fiorentina will face West Ham in the Europa Conference League finale at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic on June 7.