Erling Haaland goes seven games without a goal amid transfer speculation as Man City boss Pep Guardiola revealed secret behind stopping striker

How do you stop Erling Haaland? That is a question that has puzzled teams across Europe over the last two years.

Man City found a way to make the 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker largely ineffective across the two legs of their Champions League quarter-final.

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Erling Haaland has gone seven games without a goal for club and country

City became the first side that Haaland had failed to score against in the Champions League.

The Borussia Dortmund star has an unbelievable record in Europe’s elite competition.

He became the fastest player to reach 20 Champions League goals in just 14 games earlier this season, beating the record previously set by Kylian Mbappe.

He scored 10 this season before meeting City in the final eight of the competition.

But was restricted to just one shot on target, and no goals, across the two legs as Dortmund were beaten 4-2 on aggregate.

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Haaland had just one shot on target against Man City

So, how do you stop him? Just don’t let him have the ball, according to Pep Guardiola.

“This player is almost unstoppable and best way to defend talented players is not to let them have the ball,” Guardiola said after the game.

Haaland is on something of a goal drought at the moment… well, a goal drought for him.

He has failed to score in his last seven games for club and country, including the last four Dortmund games.

Relatively speaking, this is not a desperately long run of games to go without scoring, but we’ve come to expect a lot from Haaland.

He’s scored 33 goals in all competitions this season and needs just one more to reach his half century for Dortmund.

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Haaland has been linked with a move to City, among other clubs, this summer

It is perhaps no coincidence that it has coincided with increased speculation around his future.

His father, Alf-Inge, and agent Mino Raiola have spent recent weeks travelling around to some of the biggest clubs in Europe meeting with prospective clubs.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Man United are all said to be interested.

Many expect him to not be at Dortmund next season and he may have played his final Champions League game for the club.

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