City won 3-0 over Bayern
Manchester City dominated the second half of its match against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday, but its coach, Pep Guardiola, seemed surprised when a journalist asked him if winning was the easiest for his team this season.
And the Spanish coach replied, “It was not an easy match at all. I am mentally exhausted. (I am) ten years old today.” City took a big step towards the semi-finals after winning 3-0 at home to Germany.
Erling Haaland raised his score to 45 goals with City in all competitions, which is a record for a player in the English Premier League in one season.
Rodri opened the scoring in the first half with a superb long-range shot, before Bernardo Silva boosted the hosts’ advantage with a header.
Despite this, Guardiola stressed that City will not rest in peace when he visits his former team in Munich next Wednesday.
The Spanish coach said, “You must perform a strong performance in two matches to remove these strong teams, not one match.” Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel agreed with his Spanish counterpart.
The German coach, who led Chelsea to the Champions League title at the expense of City in 2021, added, “Football is football. A match at home in Germany is a match in Germany, and the matter is not over until the end of the two confrontations.” The two goalkeepers intervened in the second half to save their teams from several chances.
“Bayern were better in part of the game,” Guardiola said. “We made things better in the second half and in the latter part of the game, we were better in the last minutes and we scored three great goals and we had a lot of chances. Yes, it’s an amazing result, but I understand what the second leg means.” At the Allianz Arena (Bayern’s stadium)… I played there a lot, three years (as Bayern coach), and I know how special this team is in Europe.”
Tuchel took charge of Bayern at the end of last month after the sudden dismissal of former coach Julian Nagelsmann. The German coach asked his players not to focus on the first leg result.
He continued, “Because we deserved a better result, this result does not reflect the course of the match. This is the challenge and we have to focus on what we did well in the match. We played with personality, courage, the right approach and efficiency.”
Bayern won the title six times and leads the Bundesliga, two points ahead of Borussia Dortmund.
The Champions League title is the only one that Guardiola lacks with City, who is chasing leaders Arsenal for the Premier League title.
