According to manager Thomas Tuchel, Bayern Munich will be underdogs when they play Manchester City in the first leg of their quarterfinal Champions League matchup on Tuesday at Etihad Stadium.
The German manager will be trying to pull off another win against City having led his old club Chelsea to the Champions League title with victory over Pep Guardiola’s side in the 2021 Champions League final in his most difficult encounter since taking over the Bundesliga club last month.
Despite the fact that City have yet to win Europe’s top club championship and Bundesliga leaders Bayern have won it six times, Tuchel believes the pressure will fall entirely on the Manchester team.
“We will play the underdog tomorrow, and that’s okay. We must maintain our composure and competence, Tuchel told reporters on Monday.
Tuchel responded, when asked how Bayern will handle City, “Pep’s teams always have his own unique style. We’ll look for strategies to compete with and without the ball.
There will be times when we’ll be struggling, and we’ll need to defend as a block, attempt to get beyond that, and try to gain more possession.
In a similar vein as Tuchel, defender Matthijs de Ligt emphasized the significance of preventing City’s midfield from helping their front row, particularly the Champions League’s top scorer Erling Haaland.
It will undoubtedly be a challenging game. The organization of our defense is crucial. Even though Haaland is a superb player, he will struggle if his teammates don’t pass the ball well to him.
Eric Maxim Choupo-absence Moting’s from the game was announced by Bayern earlier on Monday due to a knee injury. Tuchel claimed to have a short list of potential alternatives.
Serge Gnabry could play as a number nine with little problem. Although Sadio Mane and Thomas Muller are both shorter than him, he may not have the height, according to Tuchel, who also noted that the Cameroon international will be missed when defending set pieces.
