Manchester City striker Erling Haaland made no excuses in a brutally honest interview after a shock 3-1 defeat to Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League
A frustrated Erling Haaland lashed out at himself and the rest of Manchester City’s senior stars in the wake of their chastening 3-1 defeat away to Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League.
It was far from the homecoming that City’s imperious Norwegian striker would have dreamed of the night before Tuesday’s game as a quickfire first half brace from Kasper Hogh left Pep Guardiola’s stunned. Jens Petter Hauge plundered a sensational third before Rayan Cherki bagged a consolation for the sorry visitors, who also saw Rodri sent off on a rotten night.
Haaland, who spurned a golden chance from pointblank range just before half-time, has now scored just once in his last six games. And fresh off back-to-back defeats, City’s No 9 pulled no punches with his assessment of the evening.
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“No, of course [not the homecoming he wanted.] We lose, on our way back we score and then we get a red card and it gets a bit more difficult. I think a deserved win for Bodo, without a doubt. They play incredible here at home. In the end, I think it’s deserved.”
When Haaland was pressed on what went wrong, he added: “I don’t know [what went wrong]. We do our best but theres something thats missing, obviously. I take full responsibility with Rodri, Giogio, Tijani, as experienced players. I don’t want to blame anyone but we need to take more responsibility because in the end it’s not good enough. We are Man City – we can’t go around and not win games. It shouldn’t be like this.”
City ended 2025 with eight consecutive victories but have mustered just two wins from the seven games they’ve played in 2026 so far. This defeat followed a poor performance in the 2-0 loss in the Manchester derby on Saturday.
Haaland then let rip at his own failure to make an impact against Bodo when he was asked if City’s much-changed XI took their eye of the ball against their Norwegian opponents.
“I don’t know, I don’t have the answers,” he admitted. “And again, as I say, I take full responsibility of not being able to score the goals I should do, so I apologise to everyone, to every single supporter that travelled today, because it’s embarrassing. Bodo played some incredible football and it’s [the win] deserved.
“I don’t know what to say because I don’t have the answers. All I can say is sorry.”
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