'I know Bayern's mentality' - Pep Guardiola warns against complacency as Thomas Tuchel 'falls in love' with players
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Updated 12/04/2023 at 10:44 GMT+1
Manchester City put one foot in the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-0 first-leg win over Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium. City boss Pep Guardiola, who was Bayern manager between 2013 and 2016, says he understands the German club's mentality well enough to know there will be no room for complacency in the return leg. Thomas Tuchel declared he 'fell in love' with his Bayern players.
Guardiola 'emotionally destroyed' after City win over Bayern
Pep Guardiola says he understands Bayern Munich’s mentality well enough to ensure his Manchester City team won't be complacent when they take a 3-0 lead to Germany for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
City took a huge step towards reaching the last four as Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland found the net in an eventful first-leg clash at the Etihad.
But Man City boss Guardiola, who led Bayern from 2013 to 2016, wasn’t getting carried away with the result and heaped praise on his opponents.
"When you are there you realise how good Bayern Munich are as a team,” Guardiola told BT Sport.
“It was a tight game for 60 minutes. In a lot of moments they were better than us, but after 65 minutes we got the second goal and that helped us a lot. We made some changes and our pressing was more effective.
“They kept finding [Jamal] Musiala – what an exceptional player he is – and [Serge] Gnabry and [Kingsley] Coman, how fast they are. With the ball we were better and I am happy for the result.
"I lived in Munich for three years, I know the Bayern mentality and quality they have. Still a strong game to do.”
Rodri opened the scoring with a superb strike from distance, his first career goal in the Champions League.
The Spaniard was delighted with his side’s performance, but reiterated Guardiola’s message that they are only halfway to achieving their goal.
"It was very special for me to score my first goal in the Champions League. At that moment we were struggling because they are a great, great team,” Rodri said.
"Sometimes we have to understand we cannot have 80% possession. They play too, they have talented players to keep the ball. We understand perfectly where the game was. We scored three and could have scored four, but it is a great result.
"We don't think it’s done. We know where we’re going, we know the team they are. It’s a good result and we’re happy with the performance but we don’t think much about that.
“We are facing Leicester now in the Premier League and when we face them again, we’re going to expect another final and we have to try to win the game.”
Thomas Tuchel, who was brought in recently to replace Julian Nagelsmann as Bayern boss, saw enough positives from his side’s performance to declare a newfound love for his players.
The former Chelsea manager, who was sacked by the Premier League side in September despite guiding them to the Champions League title in 2020/21, was unable to stop Bayern falling to their first defeat of the season in Europe.
“I think we deserved at least one goal and gave away one or two too many. I think our players were lacking a bit in confidence and form,” Tuchel told Prime Video.
"Of course, the result is bitter for us. I fell in love with my team a little today, the way they performed. Even if sounds strange, that was a lot of fun."
The second leg takes place on Wednesday, April 19 at the Allianz Arena.
The winner places Real Madrid or Chelsea in the semi-finals.
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