Pep Guardiola provides upbeat Erling Haaland injury update ahead of Real Madrid tie | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola admits he was "scared" when Erling Haaland went down clutching his knee against Newcastle United but is confident he'll be ready for Manchester City's huge Champions League return leg clash with Real Madrid.

Haaland received treatment on the field from the club's physios before the decision was taken to withdraw the 24-year-old from the remainder of the game.

City had already put the game to bed, steamrolling Newcastle 4-0 thanks to a hat-trick from January signing Omar Marmoush, but the major talking point after the game was not the result, rather how serious Haaland's injury might be.

Speaking to reporters for his post-match media duties, Guardiola provided an upbeat tone that suggested he's confident of Haaland's participation against Real Madrid.

"When he was down, everyone was scared but he got up and walked smiling like always,” Guardiola said. “I didn’t speak to him or the doctors but the doctors didn’t come with bad news so hopefully he is fine."

Omar Marmoush stole the show with a wonderful City hat-trick / Alex Livesey - Danehouse/GettyImages

While City have been struggling domestically and in Europe, Haaland has continued to find the net with regularity. His 19 Premier League goals have been complemented by a further eight in the Champions League, taking his season's tally to 27.

Yet he wasn't required to be on the scoresheet against Newcastle as Marmoush took centre stage, with the Egyptian's performance unsurprisingly drawing praise from Guardiola.

"The highlights are for him, of course,” Guardiola remarked. "Three goals, we knew it - in Germany at Frankfurt he made good numbers.

"The dynamic of the group was good and performance was good. He showed what he is. Hopefully he can handle the biggest compliments that are coming. It’s non-stop.

"It’s so simple, when you play good everyone adapts quickly but when you don’t play good, you need time. It’s not difficult. When we played against Chelsea, he played good and we won. He’s a player that we missed, his movements in behind and his pace.

"He likes to attack the space and he helps to play with more time. When we play like we did today, everyone is better - even the manager!"