Referee swings his arm and hits Haaland in the face

Spain Referee Letexier had to apologize, while Erling Haaland was upset because of the incident in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on the evening of April 9.

The incident occurred when referee Francois Letexier was speaking to Real player Dani Carvajal after the half-time whistle. He swung his arm while speaking and accidentally hit Haaland in the face, who was walking past.

After the incident, Haaland frowned in annoyance, while Letexier quickly apologized.

Haaland did not play well in either half of this match. Last season's Champions League top scorer only shot once and passed nine times, causing most viewers to mock him as "invisible".

Some commented: "The referee slapped Haaland to see if he would wake up in the second half" or "The referee couldn't see Haaland because he played like a ghost in the first half".

The referee (in red shirt) swung his arm and hit Haaland in the face during the Real 3-3 Man City match in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at the Bernabeu stadium on the evening of April 9. Photo: Youtube

While Haaland struggled against Real's defence, Man City opened the scoring with Bernardo Silva's low free-kick in the second minute. After conceding the early goal, Real responded well. The home side equalised 1-1 when Eduardo Camavinga's long-range shot hit Ruben Dias and redirected into goal in the 12th minute, making it 2-1 from Rodrygo's run in the 14th minute, and then created a number of other chances.

However, Man City still showed why they won the title last season. In the 66th and 71st minutes, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol scored from long range to equalize 2-2 and make it 3-2. Real had to rely on a Federico Valverde volley in the 79th minute to equalize 3-3.

The two teams will play the second leg at the Etihad on April 17. Last season, after a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the semi-final at Real's Bernabeu, Man City won the second leg 4-0.

Haaland is currently tied with Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe for second in the 2023-24 Champions League Golden Boot race, with six goals, one behind Harry Kane. In the 2023-24 Premier League Golden Boot race, the Man City striker is leading with 19 goals, one ahead of Ollie Watkins. However, his form is still down significantly from last season, when he was the Champions League's top scorer with 12 goals and the Premier League's top scorer with 36 goals.

Thanh Quy (according to Sun )

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