Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller reckons the German giants have been given the toughest Champions League draw possible – but insists they have still got a 50/50 chance of beating Manchester City.
Muller, 33, knows from the three years he spent working with Pep Guardiola at Bayern about the size of the task his team faces when they head to the Etihad on Tuesday night.
Muller is honest enough to admit it is not the tie the Bundesliga champions wanted. But his respectful words for the Blues ahead of the quarter-final first leg are tempered with a warning.
Muller said: “Statistically speaking, the match against City is probably the hardest draw we could have got in my opinion.
“If we played 10 games against each other the odds would probably be very even – and at Bayern, those odds are not to our liking.
“You don’t see such a strong influence of a coach on the direction of a team as much as you do with Guardiola. Teams coached by him are a goal threat with every attack. They always move the opponent around the pitch and it takes great strength to cope with that.
“In the end, we will do everything to be ahead of them after two games.”
Bayern beat rivals Borussia Dortmund in Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge following the sacking of Julian Nagelsmann. But they suffered a shock German Cup defeat at home to Freiburg last week - before bouncing back to beat the same opposition on Saturday.
They will have on-loan City full-back Joao Cancelo in their squad along with ex-Etihad favourite Leroy Sane and former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.
Tuchel’s first task has been to reunite a squad that was split by Nagelsmann’s departure after the club claimed the 35-year-old had lost the dressing room.
Muller was one of the players rumoured to have been at the heart of the conflict. Mane, Serge Gnabry and injured keeper Manuel Neuer also had their issues with Nagelsmann.
Midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka both went public to insist the club were wrong to try to blame the players for the sacking.
And Bayern legend Lothar Matthaus has accused chief executive Oliver Kahn of lying about the circumstances surrounding Nagelsmann’s exit even though the pair are former team-mates. Muller admits that Bayern have got a challenge trying to contain City over two legs.
The Germany international does not believe the arrival of Erling Haaland last summer has negatively affected the dynamic of City’s team.
Bayern know the Norwegian well from his time at Dortmund. And Muller added: “A Pep team with Haaland is still a Pep team. In Erling they have an absolute weapon. He is an excellent striker.
“A special aspect of games like these is the demand it creates for tickets. Everyone wants to see the game. For me, such games are always a pleasure.
“We got a lot of energy from the fans when we beat PSG in the last round. That is worth its weight in gold.”
