Erling Haaland was fit enough to be among the subs on Tuesday night as Manchester City beat AEK Athens in the Champions League

In the end it was all okay. Erling Haaland was fit enough to be among the Manchester City subs on Tuesday night against AEK Athens and, perhaps just as importantly, wasn't required as the Blues eased to a 5-1 Champions League victory.

After the game City boss Enzo Maresca said his star striker would be fine to start the Premier League game at Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime so panic over. But this should serve as a warning to Maresca and City that Haaland is not infallible and cannot be expected to lead the line time and again without his minutes being managed.

Haaland has played 620 of 630 Premier League minutes this season, his only breather coming in the closing stages at Anfield with City in control. With hindsight he should have been withdrawn when a triple change was made against Ipswich last weekend with City 3-1 in front heading into the final 15 minutes. The fact there was then an additional 12 minutes and that Haaland picked up a knock in the closing stages only underlined that error.

The striker looked spent as time ticked on against the Tractor Boys and has entered this campaign on the back of a gruelling year. This is a player who has played more matches than any other City man since the start of the 2024-25 campaign and, according to Opta, has racked up the fourth most appearances of any Premier League outfield player behind Morgan Rogers, Declan Rice and Virgil van Dijk.

The 26-year-old was an integral part of Norway's run to the last eight of the World Cup and featured in all four of his country's Nations League games in the last international break. His national coach Stale Solbakken promptly warned of fatigue.

"He was simply thoroughly spent," said Solbakken. "Some ⁠of my players have only had six or seven days of holiday. And you do not live off your physical condition in a normal job. Then it is straight into the start of the season, followed by a mini-tournament, so it is an extreme strain."

He added: "He’s in the group that carries the heaviest workload — precisely because his team (City) plays in every tournament and he’s the main man."

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Maresca knows this too. He spoke ahead of the game against Ipswich about knowing he needed to rest Haaland, making his decision not to bring him off early even more glaring in what has been a rare misstep from a manager who has got so many of his in-game selection decisions spot on since arriving at City in the summer.

With Antoine Semenyo, City's preferred option to lead the line in any Haaland absence, now sidelined until December through injury, the need to manage the striker is even more acute.

He'll no doubt get a breather in the Carabao Cup against Brighton next week and Maresca and Haaland may have to make an uncomfortable call in one of the four Premier League and Champions League matches between now and the November international break.

Phil Foden showed in midweek he is finding form with a stunning hat-trick and Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki and teenager Floyd Samba also offer attacking alternatives.

None of those are Haaland but short-term pain for long-term gain has to be the mantra. The alternative could be long-term pain for a player whose importance to the City cause is obvious.