Bayern Munich’s quarterfinals clash in the Champions League against Manchester City is littered with sub-plots. Pep Guardiola faces his old club, Thomas Tuchel goes head to head with Guardiola once having, having beaten him with Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League final, Erling Haaland takes on Bayern once again, and Joao Cancelo faces his parent club with his current loan club. Either way you slice it, it’s the big tie of this round of the competition and the winner is an odds-on favorite to press on to the final in Istanbul.
Both Bayern and Manchester City are coming off of domestic league wins into the first leg of the quarter-finals at the Etihad. Bayern exacted revenge over SC Freiburg having lost to them in the DFB-Pokal last week, and City walloped Southampton 4-1, having won their eighth straight match across all competitions. Both sides have every reason to be confident heading into the colossal occasion.
After City’s triumph over Southampton, Guardiola was asked about facing his old club in the Champions League, especially since they’ve recently dismissed Julian Nagelsmann and replaced him with Tuchel, whom Guardiola faced multiple times when the former was with Chelsea. Guardiola claimed that he’s not yet watched a match of Bayern football so far this season, but it might be safe to assume he’s aware of their domestic slip-ups in both the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal and how close the title race has been with Borussia Dortmund.
“Bayern Munich. Now, Bayern Munich…new manager there. I didn’t see one game, and I have to see, more or less, or figure out what we are going to do. So, happy to be there again,” Guardiola said to Sky Sports from the press area at St. Mary’s stadium after collecting a vital three points at Southampton (via @iMiaSanMia).
Despite what he’s said, he’s certainly sat down with his coaching staff to assess the right plans of attack to try to keep Bayern at bay. Tuchel has only been in charge for a total of three competitive matches thus far, but Guardiola, despite his reputation for perhaps over-thinking and/or over-analyzing Champions League ties, will have done his proper homework.