The jewel in Dortmundâs crown is Erling Haaland, a striker Guardiola is extremely keen on persuading City to spend well in excess of £100m on and it seems one of the assistant referees, Romaniaâs Sebastian Georghe, turned a little starstruck when he encountered the Norwegian in the tunnel after the final whistle, apparently asking Haaland for his autograph. Uefa may opt to investigate the incident.
Guardiola took a lighthearted view of the incident. âThe players told me about it. Maybe he is a fan of Haaland,â he said.
Earlier Haaland and friends had done their best to frustrate his prospective new employers. âBorussia Dortmund are a typical Champions League team and it was difficult to do what we wanted to do,â said Guardiola. âBut second half we were much better and we had two or three clear-cut chances to score. Itâs a good result and we have a chance next week.