City Hopes for Haaland's Resurrection

VILLARREAL, MONDAY – Pep Guardiola will face the fifth Spanish team in the UEFA Champions League during his tenure at Manchester City. Villarreal will test the resilience of "The Citizens" at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Wednesday (22/10/2025) at 02:00 WIB. Erling Haaland is once again a significant hope for City to return to the winning path in Europe.

Nine seasons of Guardiola have shaped City. During his time at the club, Guardiola has led City against four teams from his home country, namely Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla.

The four teams met over 16 matches, with City recording seven wins, four draws, and five losses.

Before being managed by Guardiola, City had only faced Villarreal once in the group stage of the Champions League in the 2011-2012 edition. They won 2-1 in Manchester. Subsequently, City, at that time managed by Roberto Mancini, triumphed 3-0 in their first visit to the home ground of the team nicknamed "The Yellow Submarine."

City aims to maintain their perfect record against Villarreal. The Estadio de la Cerámica, home to Villarreal, is certainly not a venue that would overwhelm City players with terror.

With a capacity of only around 23,000 seats, this number is less than half of the stands at the Etihad Stadium, the home of City, which has a capacity of over 50,000 seats. Although the capacity is small for a team competing in the Champions League, the number of seats in the stands of the Estadio de la Cerámica is nearly half of the total population of the city of Villarreal, which is only about 50,000 inhabitants.

Manchester City's hope of bringing home three points rests on the sharpness of Erling Haaland. Haaland has already scored 23 goals entering the third month of the 2025-2026 season. Specifically for City, Haaland has netted 11 goals in the Premier League and three goals in the Champions League.

A total of 12 goals by Haaland have been scored in eight consecutive matches with City. He has been unstoppable in finding the back of the net since scoring the opening goal for City during their 1-2 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion on August 31.

In fact, in the last two matches against Brentford and Everton, the goals scored by the Norwegian striker were worth six points. Haaland's effectiveness in front of the opponent's goal has gradually propelled City up to the top of the standings. They are currently in second place in the English Premier League entering the eighth week, with only a six-point gap from Arsenal, the temporary league leader.

"Of course, Erling (Haaland) is our key player. He can score four or five goals. At the same time, I realize that we cannot continuously rely solely on him for goals," Guardiola stated as reported on the club's website, Monday (20/10/2025).

Guardiola has reason to be both pleased and concerned at the same time. Haaland's sharpness could become a double-edged sword for his team's journey in the lengthy competition. There is a disparity in the quantity of goals between Haaland and his teammates.

Only six other City players have registered their names on the score sheet. Phil Foden has contributed two goals. Meanwhile, five other players have each scored one goal, namely Tijjani Reijnders, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Ryan Cherki, and Matheus Nunes.

"We want to do good things not only for Erling. The wingers, attacking midfielders, and other players also need to improve their game," said Guardiola.

Regardless of City's acute dependence on Haaland, Guardiola has devised a system that allows many players to pose a threat. In a 4-1-4-1 formation, the Catalan tactician does not restrict the roles of certain players to create significant opportunities for Haaland and other players.

I think the recent results show we're starting to find some consistency as a team. But football can change very quickly. - Phil Foden

It is not surprising that in the 11 matches that have taken place, City has already had 13 players who have initiated goals or created assists. Doku is the player with the most assists (three), followed by Foden, Josko Gvardiol, and Nico O’Reilly, who have each contributed double assists.

This situation makes it more difficult for opponents to suppress the offensive actions of The Citizens. Haaland indeed becomes the final passing target in the attacking scheme. However, the ball directed to Haaland can be produced by 10 other players, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Foden stated that the performance and positive results in the last two matches have increasingly created a positive atmosphere within the team. The City squad, he added, does not want this positive momentum to come to an end anytime soon.

"I think the results from the last few games have shown that we're starting to find some consistency as a team. But football can change very quickly," Foden said, as reported by Sky Sports.

"We must focus and think about each match without considering things far ahead. If a bad result occurs, it can sometimes be difficult to get back on the right track," he stated subsequently.

As City began to consistently win, Villarreal, on the other hand, has been deprived of three points in their last three matches. After being held by Juventus on October 2, the Yellow Submarine suffered a defeat against Real Madrid and then had to settle for a draw against Real Betis.

The matches against Juve and Betis were held at the de la Ceramica Stadium. In fact, in the previous four home matches, they earned three points, namely against Real Oviedo, Girona, Osasuna, and Athletic Bilbao.

Villarreal coach Marcelino stated that the winless results in recent matches were due to the fluctuating performance of his squad over the 90 minutes of the game. According to Marcelino, his team was able to perform well according to the game plan, but often lost focus during critical moments of the match.

This forced them to accept failing to secure full points. "Sometimes we played better than I expected, but often we were below par. We have to demand more of ourselves to achieve positive results," Marcelino said, as quoted by Marca.