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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Alex Brotherton

How one of Man City's great Champions League nights helped build the Pep Guardiola era

Manchester City are often mocked for their failure - so far - to win the Champions League, but it's undeniable that the Blues have enjoyed some unforgettable moments in the competition.

Many of those moments have come during Pep Guardiola's time as manager: the 3-1 defeat of Barcelona in 2016, the 4-2 win in Naples that saw Sergio Aguero become City's all-time leading goalscorer, reaching the final in 2021 and the 4-3 defeat of Real Madrid last season.

However, perhaps one of the most significant came when Guardiola was sitting in the opposition dugout at the Etihad Stadium.

READ MORE: Phil Foden reveals 'life-changing' moment that led to Man City breakthrough and England demand

Eight years ago to the day, City pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win against Bayern Munich.

City were given a helping hand after just 20 minutes when Medhi Benatia was sent off for a last-man challenge on Aguero. The Argentine coolly slotted the resulting penalty past Manuel Neuer, putting City in the ideal position to take three points from a game they had to win to keep their slim hopes of progressing to the last 16 alive.

Yet that turned out to be the moment when Bayern started to utterly dominate proceedings. Guardiola's side enjoyed the lion's share of possession, passes and touches despite City's man advantage, and by half-time had put themselves 2-1 up thanks to goals from Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski.

The second half began in much the same way, with Bayern pouncing on sloppy City play to keep the hosts under constant pressure. There are many great things about Guardiola teams, and one of them is the ability to pin teams back and build attacks patiently, even when playing with 10 men.

We saw that earlier this month in City's 2-1 win against Fulham. City were a man down for over an hour thanks to Joao Cancelo's red card, yet they pinned Fulham inside their own half and wore them down. Erling Haaland's 95th-minute penalty was just reward for the way City acquitted themselves and controlled the match.

Guardiola had his Bayern team do a similar thing in 2014, the difference being the opposition had prime Aguero up-front. As the match entered the final minutes City pounced on a misplaced pass in defence, allowing Aguero to surge forward and draw his side level. Another fortuitous defensive error gave him another one-on-one opportunity in injury time, and he again made no mistake.

The win against one of the best teams in the world is rightly considered one of the great nights in City's history, but it should also be remembered for the way Guardiola got his side to dominate with 10 men, just as he has since done with City.

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