\n
\nAs Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated a remarkable 700th career club goal with the winner for Manchester United at Everton last weekend, it seems difficult to envisage any modern-day forward coming close to the feats of the Portuguese icon.<\/p>\n
\nBut over at neighbors Manchester City there is someone who may have the age and ability to yet challenge the game\u2019s current goalscoring greats such as Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n
\nHaving netted 20 times in his first 13 games \u2014 taking a career total to 155 goals \u2014 Erling Haaland has been outstanding since his \u00a351.2-million summer switch from Borussia Dortmund.<\/p>\n
\nIt is no surprise to City team-mate Bernardo Silva, who also believes the potential is there for the Norway striker, 22, to make the same impact as the 37-year-old Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou never know what will happen, Erling\u2019s still very young, still got a lot to do, but the mentality is there, so yes,\u201d said Bernardo, who plays alongside Ronaldo for Portugal\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m playing with Erling (for City) so I hope so. But the standards are so high \u2014 Cristiano has won five Ballon d\u2019Ors, six Champions Leagues \u2014 but I\u2019m very impressed by Erling.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHonestly, I was speaking with a few friends the other day and I said he is the only player who gets close to Cristiano in terms of knowing where the ball will land inside the box.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe\u2019s got that smell of knowing where it lands and he\u2019s so quick and strong, which is not easy for defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHaaland will be bidding to score for a fifth successive Premier League away game when\u00a0City visit Liverpool on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\nWith hat-tricks against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and in the 6-3 Manchester derby success over United, he already has 15 league goals in nine matches.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe knew what was coming, the type of player he was, the ambition he has,\u201d added the 28-year-old Bernardo, who also played with French forward Kylian Mbappe at Monaco.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou look at his face during the games and he just wants to go for it and win the games for us \u2014 and then also he\u2019s a very nice guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou never know what you are getting with new players, so getting a player like him with his quality, and such a nice guy as well, it\u2019s top for the team.<\/p>\n
\nBernardo says he\u2019s been \u201camazed\u201d by how humble Haaland is and how he accepts he is just one more player in the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIf you see him running in games, he presses like a beast, like each one of us \u2014 that\u2019s top.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe humility of knowing that it doesn\u2019t matter how good you are or how much better you are, but the more you have to set the example and the more you have to run for the team \u2014 and he does that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDespite having won back-to-back league titles, Haaland looks to have taken Pep Guardiola\u2019s side to another level.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe have always had good results over the last few years, but it\u2019s true that now we have a player up front that is so strong, big and the other teams fear a little bit of that,\u201d Bernardo told Arab News exclusively.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBut the way we play is the same and we are happy with the results lately,\u201d said Bernardo. \u201cPersonally, I feel if me and the other midfielders and defenders do our jobs properly then we have so much quality up front.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWith players like Kevin (De Bruyne), Phil (Foden) and with Erling, they can decide the games, they can take care of the rest.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBut we have to do a proper job, control the rhythm of the game and then we know the weapons we have up front.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nUnbeaten this season, City are a point behind league leaders Arsenal but 13 clear of Liverpool.<\/p>\n
\nBut having been City\u2019s main title challengers over the past five seasons, Bernardo says it would be folly to rule out the Reds, who showed a return to form by routing Rangers 7-1 in their midweek Champions League tie.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhen the season started we were struggling a bit, still winning games but it felt like it wasn\u2019t perfect,\u201d he added. \u201cNow it feels like that, that the team is well.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe confidence levels are good, we are scoring and not conceding goals and stable in the game.\u00a0It\u2019s just the beginning though and we have to keep playing like this.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s still going to be tough and we have tough opponents coming up like Liverpool . . . we know how tough it is against them.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThey have been our biggest rivals over the last five years and it\u2019s always a challenge to play against them. Liverpool is a very important game for us.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any difference how they have started, what their form is like, honestly.\u00a0What they did in the last five years, you can\u2019t look at them and think, \u2018oh they are a bit weak at the moment.\u2019 No, no chance. They are so strong and it is going to be so difficult for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLiverpool signed Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez in the summer, but the \u00a385-million club-record buy from Bernardo\u2019s former club Benfica has scored four times and was sent off on his home debut against Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe has joined from my old team Benfica so I know of him very well because I used to watch all the Portuguese games,\u201d added Bernardo. \u201cHe\u2019s a quick player, got that quality of knowing where the ball will land and scoring goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSometimes it\u2019s not easy when you change country, change the culture. He still needs to learn a new language and adapt to a new style of play.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI think he will adapt and he will get to where he wants to be. Hopefully not, because I\u2019m on other side of the competition, but I see a lot of quality in Darwin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCity have notoriously struggled at Anfield, with a 4-1 league win in 2021 only their third in 65 years, and\u00a0Bernardo said: \u201cWe know how difficult it is to play at Anfield, with their crowd, but we are going to try.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe are feeling good at the moment and we go there to win as usual.\u00a0We have always tried to win there in the past, but just couldn\u2019t. We won just one season there, for many different reasons and in different circumstances, but the team feels good.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOur levels of confidence are very high and we are going to prepare very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhile City have yet to win the Champions League, Bernardo has lifted nine trophies, including four Premier League titles, since arriving from Monaco in 2017.<\/p>\n
\nAnd he insisted their mindset had not changed.\u00a0\u201cWe want to win as many titles as possible this season,\u201d added the midfielder, who decided to stay at City this summer despite being linked with Barcelona.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe are going to try to win them all, go for all of them as we do every single season. So this season is not an exception, we don\u2019t change.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe Premier League is the most important one and the Champions League is something we are after for a very long time \u2014 and we haven\u2019t done it yet.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd then there are the other cup competitions that count \u2014 the FA Cup, Carabao Cup \u2014 and we have the World Cup in the middle of the season, so lots of things to think about.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe just have to keep going. It\u2019s still only October and a long way to go and competitions to play, lots of games. It\u2019s not going to be an easy season, but we are doing well at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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