Sevilla vs Manchester City: live score and latest updates from the Champions League

By James Ducker, Northern Football Correspondent

The plane carrying Manchester City’s squad was late landing in Seville last night (MON) due to strong winds.

But that could be nothing next to the hurricane Pep Guardiola will hope Erling Haaland helps City to rip through Europe this season.

Guardiola was in a dressing room in Kharkiv three years ago, busy preparing for a Champions League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk the following evening, when Haaland’s name first came to his attention.

The Norway striker, then only 19, had just plundered a 43 minute hat-trick in RB Salzburg’s 6-2 demolition of Genk and he has not stopped scoring in the competition since.

City fans were left wondering if the outcome of last season’s agonising Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid might have been different had they had a striker of Karim Benzema’s ruthless brilliance in their midst.

Now they do have that man in Haaland, and as City begin their latest quest to clinch the cup with big ears, Guardiola admitted he could prove the difference maker, even if he was clear that it would be foolhardy to expect his £51 million summer signing alone to scratch that particular itch.

“If you rely only Erling’s shoulders we are not going to win the Champions League,” the City manager said. “I hope he can help us but we won’t win just because of him and we won’t lose just because of him. But he has a special quality and hopefully in the important games he can solve the problems we have but if we don’t play well we’re not going to win the Premier League or the Champions League.”

Sevilla are City’s opponents tonight (TUES) at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, where Haaland needs no introduction. He scored twice there in a 3-2 win with Borussia Dortmund last year, with one goal underlining what Rodri described as Haaland’s ability to score out of nothing. Picking the ball up over the halfway, Haaland powered 60 yards up field through the heart of the Sevilla team, exchanged a one-two as he entered the penalty area and then slid home to finish. 

“The Champions League is a tricky competition and you need these kind of players because you’re not always going to be in good moments,” Rodri, the City midfielder, said. “He’s the sort of player who you can pass the ball to and he’ll score from nothing. He can make a big difference.”