Haaland was absent from Man City's squad in the 3-1 victory in the FA Cup at St James' Park, thereby reaching the quarterfinals with the team.
Man City decided that it would be better for this striker to stay in Manchester to train than to go to Newcastle during his injury recovery, which caused him to be absent from the 1-0 victory over Leeds United on February 28.
Haaland is expected to be in the starting lineup to Madrid to prepare for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 at the Bernabeu stadium.
I didn't think about putting him on the field and I prefer to let him practice to regain his playing rhythm. When he gets injured again, he always has difficulty regaining his true form," coach Pep Guardiola said.
Man City will travel to Madrid with an unbeaten streak of 11 matches in all competitions, since the 0-2 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in January 2026.
Guardiola's Champions League journey has been strengthened by Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, who are now eligible to play after moving in January 2026, along with the return of some players after injuries.
Jeremy Doku, Saviho, Nico Gonzalez, John Stones and Nathan Ake all started in the match against Newcastle after a period of being sidelined. Pep Guardiola is satisfied that Man City is in good form and key players are all healthy. With the team entering the decisive stage of the season, the Spanish strategist hopes the team needs help to win the quadruple.
He said: "We have experience in that in times of winning a treble, a quadruple. You have to enter the decisive moment of the season with the best players.
It is a pity that the race for the Premier League title is not in our hands, because the draw against Nottingham is a big step backwards.
Everything is fine, now I'm recovering, coming to Madrid, choosing a good squad and hopefully we can show our style. That's always my goal when we play on the biggest stages against strong teams.
It's not about winning or losing, but about expressing myself as an individual and collective, and then winning or losing is also unpredictable, but that is the main spirit that I always keep in my head," Guardiola shared.
In the Premier League, Man City is 7 points behind Arsenal in the championship race and it is very difficult to usurp the opponent's throne.
Meanwhile, in the Champions League, Man City is considered to have more chances. They once beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the group stage and were also rated higher than their opponent in the round of 16.
The first leg between Real Madrid vs Man City will take place at 3:00 AM on March 13.
