Haaland’s Performance in Finals for Man City Ahead of Ballon d’Or Battle With Messi

• Erling Haaland had another poor outing in a final for Manchester City in the Community Shield
• It was his fourth final for City since joining last summer from Borussia Dortmund
• Haaland and Lionel Messi are the top two favourites for the 2023 Ballon d'Or

Erling Haaland's performance in the finals appears to be concerning ahead of the Ballon d'Or showdown between him and 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Lionel Messi.

Haaland had another poor outing in a final for Manchester City; this time, it resulted in a losing attempt on penalties in the Community Shield to Arsenal.

He was substituted in the 65th minute, and his replacement, academy star Cole Palmer scored a beautiful curler and looked to have won it for City before Leandro Trossard equalised for the Gunners in the 101st minute.

Haaland's final stats for City

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The 23-year-old played his fourth final for the English champions despite joining the club from Borussia Dortmund last summer, two of which were Community Shield showdowns.

As noted by Squawka, against Arsenal, he had 13 touches, attempted six passes, completed just four and took no shot, as France international defender William Saliba totally shut him out.

Sofascore further broke down his outings in his four finals so far for the club, starting from last year's Community Shield loss to Liverpool, where he had 16 touches, played three shots and missed a big chance.

The EPL golden boot winner had a similar performance in the FA Cup final against Manchester United when he had 35 touches and took three shots as Ilkay Gundogan came clutch for City with two goals early in either half to help with a 2-1 victory.

His outing in his biggest final so far, the 2023 UEFA Champions final, was dismal, as he had only 19 touches of the ball with only one shot. Spanish midfielder Rodri scored the only goal for Pep Guardiola's men to complete a historic treble.

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He had another quiet outing in the UEFA Super Cup final, he had zero shot on target meaning he couldn't score, but buried his penalty.

His rival Lionel Messi, in the World Cup final against France, scored twice to help Argentina to a 3-3 draw and scored the first penalty of the shootout to help win the Mundial, a tournament Haaland was absent from as Norway did not qualify.

Why Messi will win Ballon d'Or

Sports Brief previously analysed why Messi will win Ballon d'Or ahead of Haaland, despite the City star winning the treble in his first season in England, picking up golden boots in the league and UCL.

The Argentine winning the last piece of silverware eluding his illustrious career in Qatar makes a strong case for him as it is the most important trophy in football.