Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to be “aggressive” against Bayern Munich on Wednesday in order to shut off any sniff of a comeback.
The Blues travel to Germany with a 3-0 lead from last week’s first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. They followed the result up with a stylish 3-1 win over Leicester on Saturday while Bayern were held to a 1-1 draw by Hoffenheim.
The Bavarian outfit were hit with controversy after the loss to City when Sadio Mane punched Leroy Sane in a post-match bust-up. The former Liverpool man was suspended by the club for the game with Hoffenheim but is available for selection against City.
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Bayern's former boss Guardiola said the incident will have fired Bayern up to play better in the second leg and so called on his players to adopt an aggressive tone given the stars within the home ranks.
“We have a final in four days against Bayern Munich and I know the character and personality they have with their players and the mentality. We have to work a lot and be stable mentally in our bad moments,” the City manager said.
“We have to go there so aggressive to win the game, to score goals and win the game. This is the mindset I have - and I would like to put that in the mind of my players.
“We will watch the first game back and see what things we can do better and prevent the good things they can do and try to win the game.”
He added: “We need a lot of energy for Wednesday but that energy comes from here [points to the head], not from the legs – how your mentality will be in Munich playing against a top, top team. We have to see if we can play as we have done at home and show great courage to impose our game.
“If we are going there to be a little bit passive in our game, they are able to do like we are able to do here [in the first leg at the Etihad]. We are able to do many, many good things and they are able to do it [too].”
Guardiola said that one-on-one battles during the contest would decide the flow of the game, and highlighted which attacking players have the ability to give City a headache if allowed to.
He said: “It [duels] will be one of the key points in the next game. There are a lot of situations against Bayern Munich. I had the feeling with Manuel Akanji and the other ones, thanks to them winning the duels, we could make an action to attack.
“Otherwise with the runners they have like [Kingsley] Coman, Sane, [Serge] Gnabry, [Thomas] Muller, [Jamal] Musiala, they will do it.
“We have to be strong in these kinds of situations in this next game. This is why I said the action from Kevin [De Bruyne, for third goal vs Leicester] was so important from him.
“Thanks to him, you score a goal. If you lose that duel, they have a chance. In this type of game, there are many of that. That’s why you have to be so aggressive, positive.
“I want a team who is there to win the game. I know what it’s like against Bayern Munich. If you are a little bit passive, you will suffer.”
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