Thomas Tuchel admits that Bayern Munich need a miracle against a Manchester City side he considers to be the best in Europe.
Bayern consider themselves among the European heavyweights and have far more pedigree in this competition than the Blues, but find themselves 3-0 down after the first leg of their quarter-final last week needing to inflict a heavy defeat on Pep Guardiola's side to make it through. The Bundesliga champions may be used to getting their own way domestically but face a serious battle to avoid a third consecutive exit at this stage of the competition.
Tuchel, who replaced the sacked Julian Nagelsmann during the March international break, was pleased with what he saw from his team in the first leg despite the scoreline. However, the performance in the weekend draw against Hoffenheim was disappointing and a reminder of the issues that led to Tuchel getting the job at such an important time of the season.
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"We need a wonder, a miracle. It would be a miracle, actually. It’s different talking to the players, you don’t have to talk about belief.
"You need to be realistic. I don’t know if talking about a 4-0 is appropriate, I don’t know if Saturday contributed.
"We believe in ourselves. If we manage to play a good first half we can make it happen – everything is possible. If the moment comes if we have luck that we didn’t have in the first leg then everything is possible.
"There are periods, decisions by the referees, a shot saved, all these things come together. We need to find the belief in us. It doesn’t mean we dream, we are responsible for it.
"It's a huge mountain to climb and that's why we need to believe in ourselves but we don't want to be dreamers. Dreaming for me is always close to sleeping and if you cannot do one thing you cannot sleep for one second.
"We need to believe and believing means we have it on our own hands to make things happen. We need to make it happen by team spirit and performance and energy.
"We are not alone, we can fight as a team, we have our spectators who will be ready to fight with us and then we need to have a realistic level and if you just look at the top of this huge mountain you may feel overwhelmed if you ever reach the top so take it step by step, half by half.
"The challenge is tough enough, we don't need to make it more tough by constantly looking at the top of the mountain. We will start the journey tomorrow at 9pm and be ready to go all the way."
While Bayern may have left Guardiola 'exhausted' with the way they worked City in the first leg, the Blues could have won by many more on the night with visiting goalkeeper Yann Sommer making a string of excellent saves. A 3-1 win over Leicester at the weekend brought up their 10th win in a row in all competitions as well as allowing the manager to rest some key stars.
Tuchel may have beaten Guardiola on the grandest stage with a Champions League final victory in 2021 with Chelsea, but believes this City side to be the best in Europe on current form. Overturning a 3-0 deficit is going to need everything to go their way, even if history shows that City can lose control of matches quickly.
"I’m not so concerned about the general circumstances around City. I’m well aware of it," he said.
"To be honest I felt this possibility that the momentum could’ve shifted to us in the first match. I was proven wrong, we were punished brutally. They’re in top shape, they’re in full confidence.
"They arrive in April and May in the decisive months of the season and it seems like their difficult spell is behind them and it makes them dangerous. They are the benchmark in Europe and we are up for it.
"It's one match, and in one match anything can happen. We're going for the win tomorrow. In a football match, there are moments where you have the little decisions and luck you need where the whole things can be turned upside down sometimes in the blink of an eye.
"It doesn't take much but if the door is a little bit open, we have to put both feet between to really have a chance. We go from there."
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