Haaland rested to be fresh for Madrid

PEP Guardiola kept Erling Haaland at home for the FA Cup tie at Newcastle to make sure he is up to speed to face Real Madrid.

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

Manchester City head to the Spanish capital on Tuesday and Guardiola wants his star striker fresh after a recent injury.

Haaland sat out the Premier League win over Leeds last weekend with a minor ankle problem he picked up in training, but returned for the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest. He played the full match at the Etihad, although he was unable to have much of an impact and did not look at his sharpest.