How Erling Haaland became Pep Guardiola’s enforcer – the Man City star has become a leader and is driving standards since signing his new deal

Not to say Saturday felt unusual for Erling Haaland, but he forgot to take the armband with him. Captain for the afternoon, only to leave the attire back in his locker.

Haaland swapped his shirt at half-time, bathed in sweat after jostling with Fabian Schar and Dan Burn, and did so without realising the band needed replacing too. It meant Manchester City went out for the second half without a visible skipper.

He might have led Norway before in the absence of Martin Odegaard, yet the weekend did come as a new experience for a man alleged to be a robotic goalscorer who offers precious little else to Pep Guardiola. Being captain is something he relished and something Guardiola was predicting would happen at the start of this season, witnessing his stature around the squad grow beyond just banging in 50 goals a year.

Haaland’s transformation into an emotional talisman has arrived as City undergo a period of change, with younger members of Guardiola’s group rising to greater prominence as they seek answers to dismal results and disappointing performances.

In the summer, when City voted on their leadership group, Haaland came outside the top five. The hulking striker was not viewed by his peers and the staff as somebody ready for that kind of responsibility.

Guardiola saw things differently and — amid injuries and members of the traditional five not starting against Newcastle — threw the armband to his No 9, which was striking because Ilkay Gundogan had finished sixth in the leadership vote.

Haaland is a proud and fiercely competitive individual who has taken the ills of this campaign personally. He has been a picture of agitation, occasionally — and wrongly — blaming himself.

Guardiola has consistently referenced Haaland as the example of players refusing to give in during times of strife.

It is his might and power that City will need when stepping out into the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night on a mission Guardiola gave them a ‘one per cent’ chance of completing. City are bearing the scars of defeats this year and also past misery against the opponent lying in wait.

‘I’ll ask Pep if he really thinks City have that chance,’ said Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti. ‘We don’t think we have a 99 per cent chance (of going through). We think we have a small advantage we have to make the most of.’

Guardiola later admitted his despondency at the weekend had been a slight act, rowing back on his claims and insisting he had become more buoyant as the days went by after last week’s 3-2 play-off first-leg defeat and the drama surrounding it.

That full-time whistle, moments after Madrid’s late salvo served to act as a reminder of the pain this match-up can inflict, brought two men storming down the tunnel without looking back. Guardiola went and so too did Haaland, crestfallen at the way in which City had ceded their 2-1 lead in the final four minutes.

Haaland doesn’t tend to become angry, more frustrated, and sources have noticed his voice is being heard now more than ever — more vocal around the camp, more willing to chip in with thoughts in a group setting.

That will only happen more often after signing a whopping nine-and-a-half-year contract, underlining a commitment to the club that his father, Alfie, also captained. Another nice family connection to discuss in the Cheshire mansion.

Haaland has constructively called out peers and is a key driver of standards, with senior players recently keen to impress a dedication and work ethic that may have slipped. 

He is never late to training, never caught in compromising social settings and never injured. He gnaws away at slabs of meat in the players’ lounge after matches — the 6,000-calories-a-day diet already down in folklore — and wears those goofy orange-tinted glasses to help him sleep properly.

It is all geared towards staying fit, so when he went down clutching a wobbling right knee after a precarious landing upon flicking on for James McAtee to score, the Etihad held its breath. 

Guardiola would go on to say he believed the injury was fine and Haaland has trained for the last two days, boarding yesterday’s flight to the Spanish capital.

Without him, City’s chances of overturning this deficit — only one goal, but add another on to its difficulty given the sheer aura around the Bernabeu and Madrid in this competition — would have been almost zero. With him, and with the same Nico Gonzalez who turned up against Newcastle, City have a puncher’s chance.

Haaland helped himself to a double in the first leg but ought to find things more challenging on Wednesday night. Antonio Rudiger is back, Ancelotti confirming the German will start. He will meet Haaland’s heart and grit with bells on.

Rudiger, niggly with pointy elbows, lives for these physical battles. ‘It’s personal for me as a defensive player, against a super striker like Haaland,’ he said before last year’s quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu.

Haaland was restricted to only 20 touches and one shot and lost possession seven times which, given the chaos of a 3-3 draw, was a feather in the cap of Rudiger. That he returns so soon after a hamstring problem earlier in the month is a boost for Ancelotti.

There is a renewed steel to Haaland. Eight goals in nine games since the turn of the year — 27 for the season — and, as one person put it this week, he looks ‘bang up for the fight’.

The way he ate up 15 yards of ground on Burn in Newcastle’s penalty area spoke to physical prowess, and the charging down of Eddie Howe’s defence as a whole spoke to his desire to haul City out of their mess.

A gentle encouraging shove on Abdukodir Khusanov, after the young defender had been on the wrong end of a harsh free-kick decision, was evidence of the light touches Haaland has learned. Light with his own, perhaps, but City need heavy-duty Haaland on Wednesday night.

‘We have to attack, we have to score goals,’ said Guardiola. ‘Not just Erling but he has been incredibly consistent. Unbelievable. We need an almost perfect game to go through.’