Erling Haaland walked out for the second half at the Etihad on Wednesday wearing an armband his manager had publicly said he should never have. He scored twice inside the next 45 minutes. On neither occasion did he go anywhere near Maresca’s bench.

The rule the Norwegian broke is a Maresca signature. In a pre-season interview with The New York Times, Maresca explained that his captains have a specific duty when the team scores: visit the bench, not join the celebration.

“At Leicester and Chelsea, I had a rule that when we scored, the captain had to come to the bench for instructions and not celebrate,” he said.

Asked whether that would ever work with Haaland, his answer became one of the first viral quotes of his Manchester City tenure.

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“If Erling is the captain, f****** hell! We have a problem, can you imagine?”

From hypothetical to live problem at half-time

The problem went from hypothetical to live when Dias was pulled off at the break as part of a triple change, with PSG three goals up through Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha inside the opening 35 minutes. Someone had to lead the comeback, and the armband went to Haaland.

He pulled a goal back after the restart, then struck again later. The two goals made the final score 2-4, with Maghnes Akliouche adding PSG’s fourth in between.

The whole night played out in front of Pep Guardiola, who watched from the stands seated behind chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and CEO Ferran Soriano on his first return to the Etihad since leaving the club in the summer.

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The deficit clause nobody tested

After the first goal, Haaland fist-pumped the air and had a brief exchange with Josko Gvardiol on his way back to the halfway line. After the second, he jogged straight back for the restart.

There is a defense for the acting captain. Maresca’s rule exists so that an in-game lead can be managed, with instructions passed on while opponents regroup. Three goals down and chasing a comeback, there was nothing to manage.

Television coverage caught Maresca walking slowly around his technical area with his arms folded during both celebrations. He did not wave Haaland over on either occasion.

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