Phil Foden described Manchester City's record-breaker Erling Haaland as an "unbelievable player" after he hit a Champions League milestone against Napoli. 

Haaland opened the scoring in City's 2-0 win over Napoli in their opening European encounter of 2025-26, looping a header over Vanja Milinkovic-Savic after Foden's clever pass.

It was the Norwegian's 50th goal on his 49th appearance in the Champions League, reaching half a century of goals in at least 13 appearances fewer than any other player in the competition's history, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of 62 matches.

Haaland has now scored 130 goals for the Citizens in 151 appearances across all competitions, with 74 of those goals coming in 71 games at the Etihad Stadium.

And England international Foden was quick to shower praise on Haaland, who he backed to smash even more records.

"They were a nightmare team to breakdown. I thought we were pretty clever and didn't give away too many turnovers," Foden told TNT Sports.

"The first half was a bit frustrating. I wasn't getting too many touches between the lines. Erling is always going to make that run.

"It's just about getting that connection. He seems to break every record going. It's unheard of what he's doing. What an unbelievable player."

After his goal in the Manchester derby, Foden also had an impressive game, creating a game-high eight chances, which is also the most by a City player in the Champions League since Kevin De Bruyne against Real Madrid in August 2020 (nine).

De Bruyne, of course, was on the opposing team on Thursday, having swapped Manchester for Naples over the summer after a stellar stint with the Citizens. 

However, it was not the homecoming many envisaged, with the Belgian international replaced in the 26th minute by Mathias Olivera after Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was sent off four minutes earlier. 

De Bruyne received a standing ovation from the home support, and though not getting a full run out, Foden acknowledged he had already achieved legendary status at the club. 

"He's a legend of the club. I can't thank him enough for what he has done. He's forever going to be a legend here," Foden added. 

City's victory ensured they started six of their last seven Champions League campaigns with a win (D1), since a 1-2 home loss to Lyon on matchday one in 2018-19.

But Pep Guardiola and his team's attention will already be on Sunday, when they visit fellow Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal. 

City have lost both of their last two Premier League visits to Arsenal, as many as their previous 14 beforehand (W7 D5 L2). It's their longest losing run away to the Gunners since April 2009 (four in a row).

They have lost five of their last seven top-flight games immediately following a European game in midweek (W2), including a 5-1 loss at Arsenal in February, though Guardiola believes their win over Napoli is a solid foundation to build on. 

"Yes, it was [a perfect start]. We played a lot of minutes against 10. Italian teams are unbelievable [at defending]," Guardiola said.

"I've faced them many, many times in the Champions League. The resilience, the focus... I admire them so much. I'm very pleased.

"It's been a tough week and we have an incredibly tough challenge on Sunday, but we are going there with a good feeling."