It’s official: Bayern Munich have a reunion with former manager Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. It is the first time that the Bavarians have faced the Spaniard’s current team in a competitive fixture, and a tactical battle between Pep and Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is an interesting one for sure. Bayern’s sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić is also looking forward to this big match up.
As captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia, Brazzo says that he savors playing against quality opposition. “I like playing against the good teams,” Brazzo said. “Our boys are very focused. This is a top tie. It’s a tough opponent, the strongest in my opinion. This is another final. After Paris, this is again a team that has a lot of quality.”
Man City’s last Champions league game was a 7-0 shellacking of RB Leipzig (8-1 on aggregate), something that Brazzo is aware of. He’s also awaiting the return of Guardiola to the Allianz for the first time since 2016. “They won very convincingly against Leipzig. We’ll meet Pep Guardiola again. I’m looking forward to the games”.
In the game against Leipzig, Erling Haaland is a freak of nature by scoring five goals (for context, he inly completed four passes); Haaland was once linked to Bayern. Brazzo acknowledges the Norwegian’s clout: “Haaland is one of the best strikers in the world. But we defended very well against Paris. But I think City are doing even better at the moment. I think City vs Bayern is the most exciting tie in the quarter-finals.”
Giving 110% against City is the ideal outcome for Bayern, which shouldn’t be much of a problem because Brazzo said that the Rekordmeister performs best against good teams. “I believe that we perform best against the best teams” the 46-year-old said. “These are the highlights of the season for the fans. I’m looking forward to it.”
Looking for more thoughts on the draw, check out our “Reaction Podcast” to see how we feel about Bayern Munich vs. Manchester City: