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Manchester City fans were elated at Pep Guardiola starting Julin Alvarez alongside Erling Haaland for their team's UEFA Champions League home clash against Copenhagen on October 6.
Guardiola's men have won both of their matches in the competition so far this campaign. With a win at the Etihad Stadium against Copenhagen, they will be in close proximity to qualification for the next round of the competition.
The Spanish manager has decided to deploy a 4-4-2 formation for the game. He has fielded Alvarez alongside Haaland as the attacking duo.
The Argentine arrived at the club this summer from Porto after securing a deal during the 2022 winter transfer window. Since then, he has made nine appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals.
Haaland, meanwhile, has been in exceptional form since completing a move from Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer. In 11 games he has scored 17 goals and provided three assists.
The former Borussia Dortmund man has bagged three Champions League goals in two appearances so far this campaign.
It will be interesting to see what kind of striking partnership he can build with former River Plate striker Alvarez.
Fans were happy to see the 22-year-old getting a start in the Champions League. They termed Alvarez a world-class player, which he certainly has the potential to become soon.
Others went on to thank Guardiola for his decision to give the youngster a start. Here are some of the best reactions from Manchester City fans across Twitter:
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola heaped praise at Erling Haaland
Striker Sergio Aguero left Manchester City for Barcelona at start of the last season. Many believed it would be hard for the citizens to find a striker of the now-retired Argentine's quality as he was the club's top scorer with 260 goals.
Given Aguero's extraordinary numbers at the club, fans were right to some extent.
However, it seems like they have found the next prolific striker already. Haaland has been firing on all cylinders and more since his arrival at the club from Borussia Dortmund.
His numbers are simply phenomenal. The Norwegian bagged yet another hat-trick in their 6-3 win against Manchester United on October 2. In doing so, he became the first player ever in Premier League history to bag three back-to-back home hat-tricks.
While talking about the goalscoring machine ahead of his team's clash against Copenhagen, here's what Guardiola said (via GOAL):
"At his age, no one can compete with him. The numbers speak for themselves and inside – in the locker room – and on the pitch, we see things that are not in the stats that make us feel happy to have him here."
Manchester City are currently at the top of their Champions League group and second in the Premier League table.
