Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made the huge call not to start Erling Haaland in Wednesday night’s Champions League decider against Real Madrid.

The Premier League champions trail 3-2 on aggregate going into the second leg of the knockout play-off at the Bernabeu and face an uphill battle to turn things around.

But fans were shocked not to see Haaland’’s name among the starters when the lineups were published just over an hour before kick-off. Instead, the Norwegian was benched for the first time this season, having started all 34 previous Premier League and Champions League games.

It was only a few weeks ago that Haaland signed a new decade-long contract until 2034.

Bernardo Silva comes into the XI for City, with a few different options open to Guardiola. January signing Omar Marmoush, who scored a hat-trick in Saturday’s thrashing of Newcastle United from the left flank, could move centrally to replace Haaland’s role.

Alternatively, Silva could be utilised as a ‘false nine’ that might given City a little more control of the ball in central areas as they look to get back on level terms.

There was also no Kevin De Bruyne in Guardiola’s lineup. Being left out of perhaps the biggest games of the season paints a grave picture over the ageing Belgian’s future at the club, out of contract at the end of the current campaign and already linked with a golden sunset move to Saudi Arabia.

De Bruyne played no part at the weekend against Newcastle, left on the bench as an unused substitute in a Premier League game for the third time this season.

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