Haaland Breaks Silence After City’s Shocking European Upset
21 January 2026
The Norwegian star Haaland publicly apologized to Manchester City fans after the shocking 3-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt, a historic night that handed the visitors their first victory in the Champions League.
Haaland, who has managed just one goal in his last eight outings for City, failed to find the net despite three efforts on goal, extending an unusual scoring drought even as he reached 26 goals in all competitions this season.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Haaland said: 'I don’t have the answers. I take full responsibility for not scoring the goals I should have scored. I apologise to every City supporter, and to all who travelled to back us. Ultimately, it was embarrassing; Bodø/Glimt played great, and deserved the win.'
Despite 11 key players missing through injuries, suspensions, and UEFA regulations, Haaland stressed that the more experienced players should shoulder greater responsibility, adding: 'With Rodri, Donnarumma, and Tijani Reijnders, we are the experienced players; we must take responsibility. What happened is unacceptable; we are Manchester City and cannot keep losing matches like this.'
The match featured a red card for Rodri after receiving two yellow cards in under a minute, while goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma conceded five goals, two of them ruled offside.
The defeat to Bodø/Glimt was the first by an English side against a Norwegian club since 2002, and comes amid a run of poor results for City, who have won only two games since the turn of the year — one versus Exeter City (10-1) in the FA Cup, and the other versus Newcastle United (2-0) in the League Cup.
City sat second in the Premier League, seven points behind Arsenal, as they chase their first win of 2026 when they host the in-form Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Outlook and reactions
City’s setback leaves them with a tricky path in Europe and domestically, with the need to regroup ahead of a busy schedule.
Punchlines: City’s defense is so porous that even a sniper would struggle to find a target—at least the crossbar got some exercise.
Punchline 2: Haaland says there are no easy answers; perhaps the stadium’s Wi‑Fi could offer better clues than the coaching staff.
