Man City and Bayern meet in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.
Bayern dispensed of Julian Nagelsmann on 24 March and in came Thomas Tuchel – the man who masterminded Chelsea’s Champions League final defeat of Pep Guardiola’s City in 2021.
Guardiola is himself coming up against his former club, whom he guided to a hat-trick of Champions League semi-final appearances but never further.
It has now been 12 years since the second of his European titles with Barcelona – will that wait finally come to an end this time round?
What the coaches say
Pep Guardiola, Man City coach: “We want to try [to win the competition]. It’s an honour to be here against an elite club like Bayern. We’ve seen the three or four games they’ve played under [Thomas] Tuchel. Maybe on Tuesday they’ll try something new. They have quality in all departments. It’ll be difficult.”
Thomas Tuchel, Bayern coach: “We’re excited for the game, it’s a huge challenge. This is the kind of test we want. We need to build on recent results to have a chance. It’s pretty obvious how City will play. You can see the effect Pep has had on the team after six or seven years there. They are a very attacking side and in good form. We will try to find ways of competing both with and without the ball. We need a complete performance.”
Predicted line-ups
Man City: Ederson; Akanji, Rúben Dias, Aké; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Gündoğan, Grealish; Haaland
Bayern: Sommer; Pavard, De Ligt, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Coman, Musiala, Mané; Müller
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