Among the four groups of contests in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the battle between Manchester City and Bayern should be the closest group. What people didn't expect was that in the first round, Manchester City beat Bayern at home, which seemed to make the suspense disappear suddenly. At the same time, Inter Milan successfully defeated Benfica in the away game, and the chances of the Serie A Derby appearing in the semi-finals are also increasing.
Bayern, who has just experienced a coaching change, is full of ambitions and hopes to be able to hit the championship in the three major competitions of the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League. After Tuchel took office, he defeated Dortmund in his first show, regained the leader's position from his opponents, took the initiative in the Bundesliga, and the effect of the coaching change immediately appeared.
However, the reality is always cruel, and the good-sounding story only lasted for one episode before ending in a hurry. In the subsequent quarter-finals of the German Cup, Bayern lost to Freiburg and missed the semi-finals. Facing Manchester City in the Champions League, Tuchel did not make the team better, and lost to Manchester City by three goals in the away game.
Although there is still the possibility of a "turnaround" at home, in just one week, Bayern seems to bid farewell to two cup games and seems to have lost two championships. Is Nagelsmann's departure really necessary? Is it too reckless for Bayern to suddenly change coaches at the critical moment of the three major competitions?
When Haaland joined Manchester City, the outside world agreed that Guardiola filled the team's biggest shortcoming. Tactics can bring more changes, and the pass and control system also has a sharp finisher. In the game against Bayern, Rodri broke the deadlock on the field with a wonderful long-range shot, and then Haaland scored a goal and assisted a goal to seal the final score.
cab도메인 pointed out that Bayern defender Upamecano became a "disaster" for the team, and his multiple mistakes caused the pressure on the team's defense to increase sharply. Manchester City only caught one of Yupa's mistakes and scored, which is already considered a small number. In addition, goalkeeper Sommer also performed well, so Bayern can avoid a bigger loss and retain a glimmer of hope for a reversal.
Before the game, Guardiola expressed a strong desire to win the championship, hoping to lead Manchester City, which has dominated the Premier League for many years, to finally stand on top of Europe. Even using the theory of failure to help the team decompress, thinking that it is stronger than Michael Jordan, and only won 6 championships in 16 years. Calculated, it actually loses more than wins.
I don’t know if the example of Jordan, the god of basketball, has inspired the morale of the players. Manchester City showed high fighting spirit, and the whole team performed very well, more attentively than the Premier League games. Perhaps, this also confirms Guardiola's statement that the team pays more attention to the Champions League.
Indeed, Manchester City is currently 6 points behind Arsenal with one game less, and there is still one meeting between the two sides. Therefore, Manchester City has won the initiative of the championship. As long as they maintain a complete victory and score enough goals, they can beat Arsenal and win the Premier League trophy.
However, including Arsenal and Chelsea, Manchester City still has 9 opponents in the Premier League, among which there are still teams that need to relegation, and the road ahead is quite tortuous. In the Champions League, if Bayern can be successfully eliminated, the semi-finals will face the winners of Real Madrid and Chelsea, and then the finals may come from the giants of Serie A.
In terms of the number of opponents, Manchester City can pay more attention to the Champions League instead of choosing to "head-to-head" with Arsenal. This is an easier path. Of course, Manchester City's lineup is thick and the system has stabilized, and Haaland has regained the feeling of scoring goals again. I believe that Guardiola has enough space to attack at the same time in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Perhaps, Bayern is not easy, Arsenal is even more difficult.