'Last season he asked for my...': Haaland Opens Up About Cucurella's Attempt to Mock Him After EURO

Marc Cucurella, who played an instrumental role in Spain's EURO 2024 victory, made a famous call-out to Manchester City's Erling Haaland during the ceremony held to celebrate LA Roja's achievement. Cucurella apparently announced that he is coming for Haaland and will stop him. Ironically, Manchester City and Chelsea were booked to face each other in the season premiere of their respective EPL campaigns. City once again proved to be more clinical and handed the Blues a 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, August 18.

Also Read | Antonio Conte has work to do after Napoli 'melted like snow in the sun'

Erling Haaland Wins the contest against Cucurella

What turned out to be even more surreal was that the Norwegian goal scoring machine, Erling Haaland, opened the scoring for the defending champions and he finished it by beating who else but Marc Cucurella.

Following the end of the match, the Manchester City forward was asked to spare some thoughts on the Spanish defender. He defined Cucurella as a funny man, stating that last season he asked him for his shirt and in total contrast went on to mention his name on stage while celebrating.

"Well, Cucurella is a funny man. Last season he asked for my shirt and this summer he sings a song about me,” Haaland said after the match.

Considering what he said, Cucurella might have to eat his words for the time being and would have to wait for the second leg to have a chance at redemption.

Also Read | MBSG Captain Joins Protest as Fierce Rivals Join Forces for Abhaya

Erling Haaland Completes Century with Manchester City

Make it 91 goals in 100 games for Erling Haaland at Manchester City. The striker marked his 100th appearance for the club by netting the first goal in a 2-0 win at Chelsea on Sunday as City began its campaign for a fifth straight Premier League title. It also took his tally to five goals in three league openers since joining City in 2022 and showed that the Norwegian is fully rested after a summer without international soccer.

“I had a feeling that he feels better than last season at this stage,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “He feels good, and the goal was magnificent.”

Haaland gave his team the lead in the 18th minute and Mateo Kovacic added a strike from just outside the area in the 84th to make it a harsh welcome for new Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca in his first game in charge.

(With inputs from AP)