ERLI REGRET TIME

Envious Haaland shown just what he now may miss out on

- JEREMY CROSS

ERLING HAALAND just sat there looking like the bloke who'd won second prize.

Which was a night in the Bernabeu, watching the biggest club in the world show off.

Haaland must have been desperate to be out on the pitch influencing the game.

But for which team? The one heading backward faster than Max Verstappen in reverse, or the one cruising towards what most people expect to be another conquering of Europe?

Only Haaland and his inner circle will know what was going through his head in midweek as he witnessed Real Madrid teach Manchester City a footballing lesson in the Spanish capital.

Haaland missed the Champions League play-off because he was injured.

So he had to witness Pep Guardiola's side exit the competition with a whimper, having become the latest one to succumb to the overwhelming force that is Real, inside the astonishing environment of the finest stadium in the sport.

There is something mesmerising about the Bernabeu.