Maresca weighs Haaland rest after record-breaking PSG brace adds to Norway fatigue

Enzo Maresca has admitted Manchester City will need to rest Erling Haaland at some point in the coming weeks, with the Norwegian striker already carrying 13 starts for club and country this season.

Haaland scored twice in City’s 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday — a brace that took his tally to 10 goals for the season and made him the club’s all-time record Champions League goalscorer. He then faces the prospect of back-to-back fixtures: a Premier League home game against Ipswich on Saturday, followed by a Champions League trip to AEK Athens on Tuesday.

“At some point we probably need to give him rest, some days off,” Maresca said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Ipswich fixture. “We are thinking about this not just with Erling because we have players, unfortunately or fortunately, they are playing all the games with us and all the games with the international teams.”

Maresca specifically named Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez, Marc Guehi and Ruben Dias as others due a break, all of whom have been used heavily by both club and country since the season began.

City head into the Ipswich game having won all six of their Premier League matches this season, sitting at the top of the table. It will also be their first home league fixture since an independent commission found the club guilty of almost all of the Premier League charges brought against them. City have maintained their innocence and are appealing the verdict.