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Manchester City have booked their place in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. They defeated FC Bayern Munich on a 4-1 aggregate to secure the semifinal. Manchester City outplayed Bayern Munich in the first leg, where the Citizens defeated them by a 3-0 margin. Therefore, Bayern needed to win the second leg with a minimum margin of three goals, but they failed to make it. As a result, Man City advanced to the semifinals following the 1-1 tie in the second leg.
Match Analysis
Man City boss Pep Guardiola has been famous for his tactics. He showed his unique tactic against Bayern Munich last night. In the first leg, Man City took a three-goal lead. So, Guardiola could set up a defensive formation in the 2nd leg, but he didn’t. He played his team in a 3-2-4-1 formation, where Erling Haaland obviously played in the front. Grealish, Gundogan, De Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva played just behind the striker.
But the surprising thing was Guardiola didn’t use fullbacks in this match. Ruben Dias, Akenji, and Ake played as the back three. For Bayern, the right and left wings have been open, and Kingsley Koman and Leroy Sane have kept threats coming from these sides. In the first 20 minutes, Bayern created a number of chances from the two wings. Bayern’s best chance came in the 16th minute when Leroy Sane got Ederson one-on-one. Unfortunately, the ex-Man City player missed the target.
On the other hand, Man City were more focused on the counterattack. Erling Haaland kept busying Upamecao in Bayern’s defense, making some quick runs. Following his missed penalty kick, the Norwegian goal machine scored for Man City in the 57th minute. In the end, Bayern equalized from the spot kick. But it helped nothing for Bayern as they lost to Man City on 4-1 aggregate.
De Bruyne’s Reaction
Man City’s midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne talked to the media after the match. He said, “I think going into the semis is what we wanted to do. I’ve played here before, and in the beginning you know they’re going to come aggressive and they’re going to try and put you under pressure.”
“But, I think we dealt well with the pressure. We defended when there was a tough moment and at certain times we created what we needed to create. In the difficult moments and I think it was a very smart game from us,” KDB added.
