This contest will once again bring Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel head to head with each other.
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Manchester City welcome Bayern Munich to the Etihad Stadium for a mouth-watering Champions League quarter-final first-leg contest. This is undoubtedly the most anticipated fixture of the draw. Both sides are defending champions in their respective leagues and are also enjoying another promising campaign in domestic and Europe football this time around. Besides, this contest will once again bring Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel head to head with each other.
They both have a long history of playing one and other in important games. They first came up against each other in Germany when Guardiola was Bayern manager and Tuchel was Borussia Dortmund head coach. Then the duo was involved in several pulsating ties in England when Tuchel was Chelsea manager. It includes the 2021 Champions League final when Tuchel’s Chelsea famously defeated Guardiola’s Manchester City in the final.
Tuesday’s blockbuster clash will once again be an opportunity to renew their rivalry. “He’s so creative with good build-up and connection, good runners and players who are good in the spaces. He went to Paris and did really well, not just winning the league but getting final of Champions League, the way they played was good and Chelsea he did a good job,” Guardiola said of Tuchel ahead of the pulsating first leg Champions League contest.
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Thomas Tuchel has only recently taken over the Bayern Munich hotseat from previous manager Julian Nagelsmann. Hence, it is unclear how Bayern will line up in this contest against Manchester City. “Both [Tuchel and Nagelsmann] are so creative with the shape they play. We see with Tuchel, maybe they will do something new tomorrow. We will try to figure out the quality they have in all departments. It would’ve been difficult to play Bayern with Nagelsmann and with Tuchel. We don’t pay much attention, we will focus on what we have to improve to do well tomorrow,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by their club’s website during the media briefing.
Manchester City have made the most of Erling Haaland’s impressive form in front of goals this season. He already has 44 goals to his name in his debut season at the Etihad Stadium. Besides, he is also the leading scorer in the Champions League this year with 10 goals. Speaking about the striker, Guardiola said, “He’s so important for us, I can’t deny the influence. It’s the same he can of course help us here in Champions League but also at the same time to win the Premier League and FA Cup too.”
“It’s important to have a player from nothing who scores goals but we have scored many goals for many years. Monaco, we scored six and were out, Spurs four and out, Madrid five and out. We scored many but maybe weren’t solid enough. We scored with a false nine, Sergio [Aguero], David [Silva], Erling [Haaland], wingers too. We always scored goals. It wasn’t a problem in general.”
