Thomas Tuchel maintained his side “won’t give up” as they look to become just the fifth side to progress from a UEFA Champions League knockout tie after losing the first leg by a 3 goal margin.
Bayern Munich
After a 1-1 draw against Hoffenheim at the weekend saw them miss the chance to stretch their Bundesliga lead, a month of unrest at Bayern Munich looks set to get even worse, with elimination from the UEFA Champions League looking highly likely after a thumping 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the first leg of this quarter-final tie. In spite of such a deficit, boss Thomas Tuchel maintained his side “won’t give up” as they look to become just the fifth side to progress from a UEFA Champions League knockout tie after losing the first leg by a 3 goal margin. No German side has ever achieved that feat, and Bayern now look to avoid losing both legs of a UEFA Champions League knockout tie for just the third time in their history, with the previous two instances coming against Real Madrid.
The omens don’t look great in avoiding that feat, considering Bayern have scored more than once in just one of their last six games, while Tuchel has lost each of his last three personal meetings with City boss Pep Guardiola without his side scoring a single goal.
Manchester City
Manchester City travel to Germany on the back of a ten-match winning run in all competitions, last tasting defeat back in early February. A first-ever UEFA Champions League title for the club is now firmly in Guardiola’s sights, while he sits just one win short of 100 in this competition, a landmark only Carlo Ancelotti and Sir Alex Ferguson have reached prior to the Spaniard. With just one defeat from their 20 meetings with German opposition in the UEFA Champions League, that landmark appears within touching distance for Guardiola. It likely won’t be plain sailing though, as the fact the Cityzens have won just one of their last six European road trips muddies the waters somewhat and perhaps sows a seed of doubt in a squad that has so far failed to deliver a coveted maiden UEFA Champions League trophy.
If scoring goals against Man City is what Tuchel is looking for, it may be time to take Sadio Mane off the naughty step and bring him back into his team as he’s netted ten times against City over his career, only scoring more against Crystal Palace (13). City hitman Erling Haaland is on the verge of a slice of history, needing one more UEFA Champions League goal to equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 12 strikes in 2002/03 – the most in a single campaign by a Premier League player. Bayern Munich haven’t lost consecutive UEFA Champions League matches over 90 minutes since 2014!