Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Updated
Pep’s turn. “Three years in a row in the semis … we were against an incredible team … we struggled in the first half … Upamecano broke all the lines down our left side and we struggled with Coman … we were fortunate that before the penalty that we missed, they had one or two chances … but we defended really well and momentum came and the second half was much, much better … [City] are good, the semi-final again! … the finishing from Erling was really good … he is so young … the experience that we have in this competition, the players feel it a lot, they want to do it really well and the pressure is well … the team is exhausted and I don’t know how we are going to recover to play against Sheffield [United in the FA Cup semi-final] … it is so demanding … it will be tough on Saturday.”
In lieu of Thomas Tuchel, Leroy Sane speaks to BT. “Today was real life … it was a really good, strong game from us … I really have to score … if I do score it’s 1-0 and City are under a lot of pressure … but we lost the first game 3-0 which shouldn’t have happened … it’s tough for me because I had a big chance … we had them under control and won lots of ball in midfield … if I’d have scored, I’d like to know how the game went … I know how strong City are at home, but if you concede three goals away in the first leg it is tough … they know how to control the game … it is really annoying how [the first leg] went, especially after how the team played well today … we have to keep up the spirit and just focus on the league … City look incredible … I like them and how they play, so congratulations to them.”
Updated
Managerial verdicts still to come … but Jamie Jackson’s take is already in. Here’s his report from the Allianz Arena.
Is Silva ready for revenge against Real Madrid? “Hopefully, yes! … We know how tough it is to play Real in this competition … we are going to go for it, definitely … we always go for it … but we feel the team is very, very confident at the minute … and I think we are going through.”
City will travel to Madrid for the first leg in the week beginning 9 May, then welcome the reigning champions to Manchester the following week. The other semi-final is the small matter of a Milan derby. Can you wait? No, us neither.
An exceptionally cheery Bernardo Silva speaks to BT Sport. “We are feeling very confident … it is a very good moment, the best this season for the team … we have struggled until February … we couldn’t get in that usual run of winning 10, 15 and 20 games in a row but now the team is very consistent … we feel we have a chance in every competition and we are going for them … we know how tough it is … if you drop your performance for one game, you are out of one competition … next game is against Sheffield [United] then Arsenal so it is going to be tough … we are going to enjoy a lot … we are going to work hard to bring some titles back home … winning game after game is very important and we have to keep it that way!”
City reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third consecutive season. They’ll face the 14-time winners and current holders Real Madrid again, just as they did last time round. It’s the very definition of a summit meeting. They celebrate gleefully, having seen off the German champions and six-time winners with two commanding displays. Jack Grealish wears his usual saucy grin; Erling Haaland meanwhile lets a mellow smile play across his face, delighted with City’s advance to the last four, but also maybe with old pals at Borussia Dortmund on his mind. A little payback, perhaps.
Updated
FULL TIME: Bayern Munich 1-1 Manchester City (agg 1-4)
Manchester City will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals after seeing off Bayern Munich with ease! Pep allows himself a very small, but very satisfied smile.
90 min +4: Grealish complains that Gundogan’s pass down the left wing wasn’t on the money. The tie’s long won, but standards are standards.
90 min +2: Davies beats Walker in a footrace down the left and cuts back for Mane, who opens his body and pinball-flippers a first-time shot wide left from close range. Mane has the good grace to look utterly deflated.
90 min +1: Upamecano nearly gifts the ball to Grealish on the edge of his own box. He’s had an absolute nightmare over the two legs. A reputation shredder? A confidence shredder for sure.
90 min: There will be five additional minutes.
89 min: Gundogan taps the free kick to Grealish, who heads towards the corner flag. City are seeing out this match by pressing a few of Bayern’s buttons.
88 min: Stanisic is teased by Grealish down the left, and loses the rag, clipping him just outside the Bayern box. Into the book he goes. Before the resulting free kick can be taken, De Bruyne is replaced by Walker.
86 min: Coman is rugby tackled by Laporte as he races down the left. Laporte is rightly booked, but Tuchel gets involved again, and receives his second yellow card of the evening. The Bayern coach is sent off. It had long been coming.
Updated
84 min: Haaland is replaced by Alvarez. When the game restarts, Davies steams down the left and crosses low for Tel, who spins and flashes a shot just wide right of goal. Ederson had it covered. Just.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 1-1 Manchester City (Kimmich 83 pen); agg 1-4
Kimmich stutters, sits Ederson down, and slams the penalty down the middle. It’s not quite game on, seeing Bayern need three more in seven minutes, but here we are.
Updated
Penalty to Bayern!
82 min: The referee is sent over to the monitor. He takes one look, turns around, draws a TV screen in the sky, and points to the spot. Mane had appealed for that penalty with a cheeky grin on his face, for what that’s worth. It’s a soft one. It did hit Akanji’s arm, but you’d have thought that proximity was a factor there.
Updated
80 min: Mane dribbles hard down the left and wins a corner off Akanji. Mane claims a penalty, the ball having pinged up off the City defender’s forearm. VAR gets involved.
78 min: Ederson plucks the resulting corner from the sky. Then City nearly play themselves into trouble, but nobody outside the ground knows how or why, because the television director is far too busy showing footage of Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn sitting in the stand with a face on. To be fair, it’s all entertainment for the masses, one way or another.
77 min: Bayern come again. Coman comes again. He drops a shoulder to make space down the right but his shot-cum-cross is blocked by Dias. A corner on the right leads to another on the left. Before that can be taken, Pavard is replaced by Stanisic.
76 min: Bayern have the ball in the net! But it won’t count. Coman is sent clear down the right by Kimmich. He cuts back and shoots. The ball deflects across the face of the goal towards Tel, who slots from six yards. But Coman is flagged offside, correctly so.
74 min: Mane slips a pass down the inside-left channel for Tel, who spins elegantly into the box only to be stopped unceremoniously by a perfectly timed Dias challenge. Fine play all round.
73 min: Kimmich floats a cross in from the right to Muller, who eyebrows softly towards Ederson. Bayern threatened to make a game of this in the first half, but everyone now knows this is over.
Updated
71 min: Choupo-Moting and Musiala make way for Muller and Tel.
69 min: The increasingly ragged Upamecano attempts to send Mane clear down the left with a long diagonal pass. He shanks it straight through to Ederson, a good 30 yards off target. “I think it’s fair to say that Upamecano has managed to play his way out of Munich over these last two Champions League games,” suggests Matthew Lysaght, parking his transfer tanks on Fabrizio Romano’s lawn. There he goes!
Updated
67 min: Musiala dribbles down the middle and slips a pass wide right for Choupo-Moting, who attempts to thread a shot towards the bottom right. Easy for Ederson. “For the longest time, I’ve enjoyed watching Bayern play in Europe,” begins Aditi Modi. “I love their free-scoring, gegenpressing, dramatic, fun style of football. That being said, I’ve been enjoying a sadistic sort of pleasure watching them struggle over the past two legs, ever since the sacking of you-know-who.”
66 min: Ake pulls up, feeling his hamstring. He knows immediately that his race is run. Laporte comes on in his place.
65 min: Davies has a belt that’s easily gathered by Ederson.
64 min: A double change for Bayern. Davies comes on for Cancelo, while – and you’ll like this – Sane is replaced by Mane. The pair exchange a very frosty low five.
62 min: Haaland is relentless and chases down De Ligt to earn a corner. Nothing comes of it, but, with apologies for belabouring the point, what a player.
61 min: Grealish teases Pavard down the left and draws a foul. Pavard goes into the book. Upamecano heads the resulting free kick clear; he’s been statistically due to get something right during this quarter-final tie, and there it is.
59 min: That’s now 48 goals for the former Borussia Dortmund striker in 41 matches for his new club Manchester City. What a season he’s having. What a player. What a team Manchester City are! The treble is on.
GOAL! Bayern Munich 0-1 Manchester City (Haaland 57); agg 0-4
Coman dribbles into the City box from the right. He reaches the corner of the six-yard box and hits a fierce shot-cum-cross that Ederson somehow turns away from the nearby Choupo-Moting. A tap-in having been denied, Stones lashes a clearance upfield. De Bruyne slides Haaland into space down the inside-left channel, sends the sliding Upamecano off to the shops for a copy of Bild, and lifts a shot over Sommer and into the right-hand side of the net! Game over!
Updated
55 min: City break upfield at speed. De Bruyne slips Grealish off down the middle. Grealish sends Haaland away down the left. Haaland enters the box and should roll across for De Bruyne to tap in, but goalscorers gonna goalscore, and he attempts to lash home from the edge of the box. Sommer gathers, and De Bruyne fumes.
54 min: Ake is booked for a late slide on Pavard. Meanwhile the referee has booked someone on the Bayern bench. It’s not Tuchel, who, already on a booking, is still hanging around. But for how much longer?!
53 min: Coman and Pavard exchange passes in City’s final third … to very little effect. The visitors seem happy to sit back and keep their shape right now, with Bayern probing a bit too meekly.
51 min: De Bruyne sashays down the right and draws a fairly clumsy foul from Kimmich. He gets up and takes it himself. Long. Too long. Akanji attempts to keep things going on the left but is forced to turn tail.
49 min: Musiala drives infield from the left before laying off for Pavard. A cross comes in. Grealish is forced to head behind for a corner. Sane sends it in from the right … and fails to beat the front man. Very disappointing for Bayern, who need something to happen sooner rather than later. City have started the half in pretty comfortable fashion.
48 min: Corner for City down the right. De Bruyne takes a while to trot over. Eventually he delivers. Kimmich is skittled and a free kick releases the pressure on the hosts.
47 min: City start the half confidently, stroking the ball around awhile, then sending Grealish off down the left. Grealish lays off to Ake, who hits a low drive-cum-shot that squirts through to Sommer. “Despite not scoring, Bayern have looked the more dangerous side,” argues Justin Madson. “Wonder what the scoreline would be like if Lewandowski didn’t decide to take Europa League play with Barca instead. They’ve missed him a lot this season, both here and in the league.”
City get the second half started. No changes by either side. Muller, Mane and Gnabry still in reserve for the desperate hosts.
Half-time postbag. “Bold prediction. Now that Bayern have failed to score in the first half, I believe that they will most probably capitulate, much like Chelsea yesterday, despite being the better team in the first half” – Aditi Modi
“This game is over. Pep can start his Real Madrid nightmare by thinking up some eccentric starting XI” – Jeff Sax
“I know the likes of Fergie were able to build a siege mentality to get the best out of some players but is Tuchel getting on like a baby at every decision really helping his team?” – Samuel Campbell
“The bear-faced cheek (sic) of the Bayern defender who went into the area to pick up an unidentified stationary object in the penalty area paid off. And Haaland duly missed by a country mile. Makes for a much more interesting match!” – Colum Fordham
“Death, taxes, and Joshua Kimmich getting booked” – Harriet Osborn
Half-time advertising break. Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!
HALF TIME: Bayern Munich 0-0 Manchester City (agg 0-3)
No goals, but a rescinded red card, a missed penalty, and some pinball in the City box more than make up for the lack of scoreboard action. City edge closer to a semi-final with Real Madrid, but Bayern aren’t giving this up quite yet!
Updated
45 min +1: Gundogan falls on the ball and grabs it. Kimmich tries to kick it out from under him. Both are booked. Tuchel remains on his rolling boil, a bain-marie of belligerence.
45 min: Bedlam in the City box as Musiala tears down the inside-left channel. He prepares to shoot only to slip. The ball breaks to Choupo-Moting, who attempts a backheel from close range. Blocked. Coman then attempts to drive home through a thicket. He hits Choupo-Moting, and City clear their lines. What a stramash!
Updated
45 min: There will be two extra first-half minutes. “I don’t know what ursine match facts will make the halftime report,” writes Peter Oh, “but I reckon that scoring a goal before the the break is one of Bayern’s bare necessities.”
Updated
44 min: Ederson makes a big song and dance over the resulting goal kick and is booked for delaying the restart.
43 min: Sane takes a snap-shot from 25 yards. His effort dribbles wide right. Ederson had it covered. Sane had options either side, and looks suitably sheepish as his team-mates give him the what-for.
42 min: Gundogan shapes to shoot, in a pocket of space 25 yards out. He takes too long and is dispossessed just in time by Upamecano, nipping in from behind. That’s better from the big defender. Bayern go up the other end, Sane dribbling down the inside-left channel and laying off for Coman, who rasps a shot towards the left-hand side of the City goal. Ederson isn’t getting beaten at his near post.
40 min: City calm themselves down with some sterile possession. Probably a good idea. This game has been on a rolling boil since the off. It’s wonderful fun!
39 min: Bayern go up the other end with the intention of hitting City with a double whammy. Kimmich aims for the top right but sends his shot wide and high.
Haaland misses from the spot!
37 min: Haaland is forced to wait as Goretzka wanders into the box, picking up something thrown from the crowd. The former Borussia Dortmund striker steps up … and then sends a rising drive pinging off the top of the bar!
Updated
Penalty to City!
35 min: Gundogan aims a low drive towards the bottom right. A deflection sends the ball wide right of goal. That deflection comes off the tip of Upamecano’s elbow, which had been behind the defender’s back until he inexplicably brought it back out! A yellow for the increasingly hapless defender, and the referee points to the spot.
Updated
33 min: Grealish embarks on a power dribble down the left, but his flicked cross is sent towards nobody in particular, and flies out harmlessly on the other side of the pitch. City haven’t done too much in attack, but they don’t need to, and by dousing Bayern’s early fire, have quietened the crowd, a job in itself.
31 min: Corner for Bayern out on the right. It’s whipped to the near post, where Choupo-Moting flashes a header harmlessly wide. Goal kick … over which Ederson takes his sweet time. He goes down, surveying his paw, then upon receiving a talking-to from the referee, gets back up and restarts the game. The home fans unhappy.
29 min: Musiala shapes to shoot from the edge of the City D and is shoved in the back by Rodri. He wants a free kick but the referee doesn’t see it that way. On the touchline, Tuchel is beyond angry. Already on a booking, he wants to watch himself here. “Tuchel is livid,” writes his uberfan Jeff Sax. “Bet he will see red before the end.”
27 min: From out left, Ake sends a speculative shot across the face of the Bayern goal and wide right. City seem to have settled a bit after a slightly tentative start.
26 min: You know what, Haaland was only inches offside before being brought down by Upamecano. Bayern and Upamecano so close to early disaster. “I’m still marvelling at the bear. Could we have more ursine related facts and figures at half time? Or maybe when the game stops as the bear catches the ball so there’s a ... wait for it ... a paws in play!” Bill Preston, ladies and gentleman. He’s here all week. Try whatever’s in the Jellystone Park picnic baskets.
24 min: A slight calm after multiple storms. Then suddenly Bayern break forward through Coman down the left. He rolls across for Sane, who turns down the chance to shoot and cuts back to Goretzka. A wild blooter flies over the bar. Sane should have had a pop himself.
21 min: Everyone’s expecting the free kick to be crossed into the mixer, but Sane tries to fox Ederson by flashing it straight towards the bottom-right corner. Ederson reads the danger and turns the ball around the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
Updated
20 min: Coman is clipped by Ake down the right. Free kick, and a chance for Bayern to load the City box. This game is bubbling away very nicely.
19 min: Tuchel cops a booking, though, for once more telling it as he sees it.
18 min: Now it’s a huge let-off for Bayern! Haaland is sent barrelling clear down the middle. Upamecano, who had a shocker in the first leg, comes across and shoves the former Borussia Dortmund player to the floor from behind. Out comes the red card! Another shocker! But then the flag goes up for offside, and Upamecano is spared! What drama here! Please excuse the multiple use of exclamation marks!
Updated
17 min: Bayern miss the first big chance of the evening! Musiala slips a pass down the middle to release Sane. He’s clear, but knows he’s got Stones on his right shoulder. He takes a touch to the left, draws Ederson, and chips the keeper … only for the ball to bounce wide right of the gaping net. City nearly undone by their former player!
15 min: Silva dances in from the right with balletic grace. He swerves past a couple of challenges before feeding De Bruyne down the channel. De Bruyne whips in low. Sommer gathers. City bare their teeth for the first time.
Updated
13 min: It’s been hectic since the get-go. Bayern calm things down with some patient passing in their own half. That quietens the crowd, but the noise rises again as Coman is clipped by Dias only for the referee to wave play on. The home fans aren’t happy. Coman isn’t happy. But here we are.
11 min: Silva drops a shoulder with a view to tearing past Cancelo down the right touchline. Cancelo cynically checks him, and goes into the book. That’s a harsh decision, but the referee points to earlier fouls by Pavard and Goretzka, and it looks as though Cancelo is taking the hit for his team-mates.
Updated
9 min: It’s all Coman during these early stages. He makes his third sortie down the right and cuts back from the byline. Dias gets a touch on the ball to deflect away from the in-rushing Choupo-Moting and Musiala. City haven’t quite settled yet.
8 min: Coman strides down the right again. He whips in again. This time there’s too much height on the cross and Choupo-Moting can’t connect. A better delivery and City were in a world of pain there. It’s been a bright start by the hosts. Let’s face it, they need one.
7 min: De Bruyne is given a good old clatter by De Ligt. An elbow in the small of the back. A free kick, albeit not in a position that’s a problem for Bayern. That doesn’t stop Tuchel having his say from the technical area. An early edge to this game.
5 min: Dias takes a heavy touch that allows Coman to intercept. As the City defender sprints in an attempt to reclaim, he clatters Coman. But a split second earlier, Choupo-Moting was flagged offside, so there’s no dangerous free kick awarded against City. Lucky Dias.
3 min: De Ligt and Sommer faff around at the back, the keeper nearly allowing Silva to close him down. The ball pings out for a goal kick. De Ligt and Sommer gesticulate at each other. It’s not exactly Sane v Mane, so don’t expect the throwing of hands in the dressing room later on.
2 min: Pavard and Coman combine at pace down the right. The latter whips in dangerously. Choupo-Moting winds his neck back, preparing to head home from six yards, but Stones judges the situation to perfection and flicks away just in time. So close to a stunning start by Bayern!
After a three-minute wait, the ref is back, and Bayern launch the ball long. Here we go, then. “Only one thing going for Bayern, that’s Tuchel,” argues Jeff Sax. The crowd too, though, right?
Bayern wait to get the ball rolling, the referee having departed the scene, either for a comfort break or to fix his tech. As everyone hangs around, there’s one hell of a racket being made by the home fans. “Bayern! Bayern!” A simple enough call and response but wow it’s effective. Pep takes the opportunity to give his players some more tactical instruction.
The teams are out! Bayern wear their red shirts. City could sport their first-choice sky blue but plump for neon yellow instead … a kit styled on “the Manchester Worker Bee, a symbol of Mancunian character that found its way from the Manchester coat of arms to the city streets, walls, and galleries.” (A detail that may or may not be of interest to anybody who read this today.) A rare atmosphere under the floodlights at the home of the six-time champions. “I freely admit that I didn’t click the link,” begins Daniel Stauss, “but there’s no way Bayern listed Berni’s vitals in feet and inches and stones. But then, high quality on-the-fly unit conversions are what keep us coming back for more MBM fun.” We’ll be off in approximately 120,000 milliseconds.
Updated
Pep speaks to BT … “It is an honour to be here … a Champions League final away at Bayern Munich … I expect a tough game … we have to focus on the football game … [we can think about] the result of the first leg and the future, but here is a game we have to do.”
… and so does Thomas Tuchel. “We cannot get overwhelmed by the scale of what we have to do … we have to take it step by step … the first step we have is to win … we have a chance to win this game … if we win both halves separately we have a minimum of a two-goal advantage and it looks a bit more realistic … if we just look at the task to score four goals against City it might look too big, I agree, but if we take it step by step and catch some momentum, who knows? … Joao Cancelo missed the first leg against his team-mates and I think [cheeky smile] it’s always nice to have one guy playing against his former team … we hope he can have one or two shots and some good assists.”
Mascotwatch. Bayern’s beloved mascot Berni has been tooling around the Allianz Arena, hogging the early-evening limelight. According to the Bayern website, the 6ft 5in, 16-stone bear is 19 years old in a couple of weeks. Got to say, he’s looking good for it, though since that official photo was taken, he does appear to filled out a tad and lost quite a lot of hair on top. But hey, haven’t we all. To borrow Berni’s favourite phrase: we are who we are.
First leg revisited. Here’s a reminder of how things panned out last week, for the immersive pleasure of City supporters and fans of the 17 other teams in the Bundesliga.
The German champions make two changes to the starting XI named at the Etihad last week. Joao Cancelo, on loan from City, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting come in for Alphonso Davies and Serge Gnabry, who drop to the bench.
The English champions are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. Pep Guardiola selects all 11 players who started the first leg for City.
The teams
Bayern Munich: Sommer, Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt, Cancelo, Kimmich, Goretzka, Sane, Musiala, Coman, Choupo-Moting.
Subs: Ulreich, Gnabry, Mane, Davies, Sarr, Blind, Muller, Gravenberch, Tel, Mazraoui, Stanisic, Ibrahomovic.
Manchester City: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva, Grealish, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Perrone, Foden, Palmer, Lewis.
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
❗ So starten wir in das Viertelfinal-Rückspiel gegen @ManCity. 🔥#FCBMCI #PACKMAS pic.twitter.com/adfMRNYy4g
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) April 19, 2023
📋 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📋
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 19, 2023
XI | Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Perrone, Foden, Palmer, Lewis#ManCity pic.twitter.com/ja4yFMF6rU
Preamble
After routing Bayern Munich 3-0 at the Etihad last week, Manchester City are within touching distance of another semi-final with Real Madrid. So close. Almost there. City, who have won their last ten matches straight, scoring 37 goals in the process, are hot favourites to make it through tonight.
Bayern will nevertheless go into this evening’s match with some hope: similar deficits and worse have in recent years been recovered by the likes of Deportivo La Coruna (v Milan 2004), Barcelona (v Paris Saint-Germain 2017) and Liverpool (v Barcelona 2019). But not by Bayern, who have only retrieved a first-leg deficit of two goals once (v Porto in 2015) and failed on the single occasion they attempted to claw back three goals (v Barcelona in the very next round that year).
Neutrals will expect a procession for Pep’s men, then … though City fans, long accustomed to the strange things that happen to their team in this competition, will surely take nothing for granted just yet. Kick off is at 9pm in Munich, 8pm Mancunian Summer Time. It’s on!
