Manchester City, nicknamed "The Blue Moon," will host Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium in a key match of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League season. Manager Pep Guardiola, speaking about Erling Haaland, said the striker always puts the team's interests first and is incredibly humble.

Manchester City secured a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in the earlier Premier League match, thanks to a brace from Haaland and a goal from Nico O'Reilly, giving them a boost before their match against Borussia Dortmund.

So far this season, 25-year-old Norwegian star Erling Haaland has scored 13 goals for Manchester City in the Premier League and 4 goals in the Champions League.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said at a press conference, "It's really hard to find a truly world-class player who is also so humble and always puts the team's interests first. I know he wants to score goals, but I feel he always puts the team's interests first, and that's a really rare quality."

“He has the ability, talent, and goodwill—you can describe it however you like. Of course, he has to score goals; that’s the best way to help us, and that’s very clear. He signed a long-term contract, he’s deeply involved on many levels, and we’ll always be here to support him.”

Guardiola also said, "He is very important in set pieces. He is tall, aggressive, and can help us defensively. We try to minimize his unnecessary running because he is too big to make 30 to 40-meter sprints every three days. I don't want to see that."

"If we control the game through possession and passing during the 11-month season, we can get through those tough times. And fewer injuries, etc., so he can help us, and he really is helping our team."

Furthermore, Manchester City currently sits in 9th place in the Champions League standings with 7 points, tied with 8th-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Guardiola said, "In the old Champions League format, if you got 9 points at home and won one away game, you could almost qualify. But it's completely different now. I'm not saying it will be easy, because Dortmund always performs very well in this competition and always manages to go to the later stages and qualify from the group stage."

"If we win another 9 points, we will definitely advance and get closer to the top 8."