Bayern Munich is clearly defeated by Manchester City with 0: 3. The German record champions will have to bury their dream of triumphing in the Champions League.
Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola hugged each other briefly, while the FC Bayern players crept to their supporters with their heads hanging. But there was no consolation for the Munich team, the German record champions will probably have to bury their dream of a handle pot. After a devastating 0:3 (0:1) in the quarter-final first leg of the giant duel with Manchester City, only a great football miracle can help Munich.
“Brutal, the result is very bitter,” said captain Joshua Kimmich after the game on “Prime Video”. Until the second goal, it was a “game on an equal footing,” he added – and defiantly practiced optimism for the second leg: “It’s possible to keep up, to win, even if that sounds funny now.” Matthijs de Ligt added: “I think we gave the game away unnecessarily.”
The Spaniard Rodri (29th), Bernardo Silva (70th) and Erling Haaland (76th) caused Bayern’s first defeat of the current season in the premier class, the semi-finals are a long way off before the second leg on Wednesday next week. In the end, goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who was insecure at the time, even prevented a debacle for Bayern, who kept up well for a long time, but made several bad mistakes in defense.
Müller just sits on the bench for a long time
Tuchel and Guardiola didn’t stay on the bench in the wind and constant rain at the Etihad Stadium, from the sidelines they constantly tried to influence the hard-fought, sometimes high-class game that went down to 2-0. In the second half, when both teams played with open eyes, Tuchel saw good chances to equalize with shots from Leroy Sane (49th and 54th), but also serious mistakes like that of Dayot Upamecano before the second goal.
While Guardiola refrained from personal experiments and fielded his best team behind striker Haaland, Tuchel caused a small surprise: Thomas Müller was initially only on the bench. Behind Serge Gnabry, who again replaced the injured Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Munich’s coach relied on Jamal Musiala, Sane and Kingsley Coman.
ManCity was very high, exerted a lot of pressure from the start when they had possession of the ball, and Munich sometimes had considerable problems freeing themselves. It only became dangerous at first when goalkeeper Yann Sommer almost missed the pass after a back pass – Haaland was ready (14′).
Sane with several chances for Bayern
Bayern didn’t hide at all, if they had the ball, they looked for a quick way forward. After a shot from Haaland (22′) was parried by Sommer, the good Musiala had the chance to take the lead on a pass from Sane – Ruben Dias threw himself in between (26′). Rodri’s goal came in return, Bayern let the Spaniard shoot from around 22 meters unchallenged.
The goal seemed to inspire Man City. Of course, Munich countered, trying not to lose control of the game. But they only became dangerous with a long-range shot from Sane (45+2). Sane was also the driving force early in the second half as Bayern played bolder forwards – but also caused turbulence in their own penalty area. After a mistake by the insecure Upamecano, there was chaos for a short time, Haaland’s last shot was blocked.
After that, however, ManCity refused to be asked and gratefully accepted the gifts from Munich. Haaland, who had been inconspicuous until then, gave Silva the second goal after a mistake by Upamacano. He then executed unsorted Bayern himself a little later. And Sommer prevented even worse.