Pep Guardiola has justified Erling Haaland not scoring in a huge Champions League clash with Inter Milan.

Haaland was unable to carry over his explosive Premier League play onto the big stage as the game finished in a 0-0 draw.

Guardiola said following the match that Manchester City was not able to physically overwhelm Inter.

“There were six players around Haaland. Six!

“Three behind, three in front. That’s how they kept him out of the game.

“It makes it difficult for any player. Acerbi, Bastoni were five metres away from him, Calhanoglu, Zielinski in front of him. It’s tough.

“We tried to exploit the space, that’s why Gundogan had some chances, but Inter were physically stronger than us.

“We needed to put more players around Erling and we did that. I knew Inter would defend like that.”

In this match, Haaland only had 7/9 passes, 14 Touches, 3 shots, 2/6 Duels won