(AFP) - The Norwegian genie Erling Haaland woke up from his bottle and scored five goals in his English team Manchester City's 7-0 victory over Leipzig, and the passage to the quarter-finals of the Champions League competition on Tuesday, while the Italian Inter lured Porto to a tie. Negative to qualify at his expense.
The “hurricane” hit Haaland hard by scoring five goals (22 penalty kicks, 24, 45 + 2, 54, and 57), and the German Ilkay Gundogan (49) and the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne (90 + 2) added the other two goals to qualify for City at the expense of Leipzig. with an 8–1 aggregate victory.
Haaland described the match as "wonderful and the best I've played in my career at this level. I've previously scored nine goals in one match."
He continued, "Of course, I would have preferred to play more minutes (he came out in the 63rd minute), but there are other players."
With his five goals, Haaland became the third player to score five goals in one match in the Champions League, after Brazilian Luis Adriano with Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk in October 2014, and Argentine Lionel Messi with Barcelona in March 2012. He also raised his tally to 33 goals. In 25 matches he played over four seasons in the continental competition.
Algerian Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring for the England champions in Germany, first-leg, before Leipzig responded a third of an hour before the end with the goal of Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol, who presented his credentials to the world in the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Guardiola's team has not lost in its last nine matches in all competitions, with seven wins and two draws.
City is still panting behind its first Champions League title, and flirted with it when it reached the final for the first time in 2021 and fell to Chelsea. As for last season, it was eliminated in the semi-finals by Real Madrid, with a crazy confrontation that ended 6-5 on aggregate.
The England champion four times in the last five seasons realizes that the struggle for the “Premier League” will be difficult this season, as it is five points behind leaders Arsenal 11 stages before the end.
In today's match, City started the match with a pressing attack, in which the play was limited to the German guest side.
With this pressure, Citizens won a penalty kick in the twenty-first minute, which Halland successfully translated to the left of the goalkeeper (22).
And soon the Norwegian added the second goal, after De Bruyne, who missed the first leg due to injury three weeks ago, hit a missile ball that hit the club, and Haaland followed it up with his head into the net (24).
Haaland signed the “hat-trick” before the end of the first half, after a dribble in front of the goal (45 + 2).
With the opening of the second half, Gundogan scored the fourth goal with a creeping ground shot (49), before Haaland easily added the fifth (54).
Haaland scored his fifth goal for City in the 57th minute, after he followed a shot from Swiss Manuel Akinji, which was blocked by the goalkeeper.
De Bruyne concluded City's goal festival with a wonderful shot from outside the penalty area, to sign the seventh goal (90 + 2).


Inter also reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 12 years, by snatching a goalless draw from Porto, Portugal, on Tuesday, at the latter’s home, the Dragao Stadium.
Inter won 1-0 in the first leg last month.
The last appearance of the Nerazzurri in this role dates back to the 2010-2011 season, when it came out in a surprising way against Schalke 04, just a year after winning the title at the expense of Bayern, led by Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, when he scored the hat-trick to add him to two more titles in 1964 and 1965.
Porto, the champion of the competition in 1987 and 2004, fought in the absence of his 40-year-old Portuguese veteran defense pole at the last minute, while his teammate Ottavio missed the match because he was sent off in the gold meeting between the two teams in the last quarter of an hour.
On the other hand, Inter coach Simone Inzaghi decided to involve the veteran Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko mainly, as he did in the first leg at the expense of the Belgian Romelu Lukaku, who replaced him in the first match and scored the only goal of the match, and played alongside Dzeko, Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez.
Porto started the match pressing in an attempt to adjust the first-leg result, and Colombian Mateus Uribe hit a powerful ball from 25 meters, which was parried by Cameroonian Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana brilliantly with his fingertips after 3 minutes.
Dzeko responded with a creeping shot, which was hit by Porto goalkeeper Diego Costa (23).
The rhythm of the game calmed down in the twenty minutes of the first half, without any real danger to the two teams' goal.
The second half scenario was similar: pressure from Porto and desperate defense from Inter, with its reliance on counter-attacks.
Lukaku participated in the 70th minute instead of Dzeko.
Onana intervened again to deny Serbian Marco Groic a goal after a creeping left-footed shot (76).
In the last quarter of an hour, Inter succeeded in leading the match to safety and qualifying.
It is noteworthy that Inter's neighbor, Milan, also succeeded in reaching the quarter-finals by displacing Tottenham in the same way, by defeating it in the first leg 1-0 and drawing it negatively in the second leg.