Man City 3-0 Bayern Munich: Pep Guardiola’s men pick up dominant win

Exciting, deadly, clinical and sometimes irresistible. This is the combination that brought Manchester City into what should have been the toughest game of their season so far. By the end, Bayern Munich had been brought to their knees and it’s a feeling many teams leaving this stadium will know very well.

Bayern was good in this game for a long time. One period in the first half and another at the start of the second half, the German champions and six-time winners were marginally the better side.

At times, City goalkeeper Ederson appeared to be embroiled in a personal one-on-one duel with former team-mate Leroy Sane. It was a match that the Brazilian won and he had to.

But still Bayern was defeated. By the end they were well defeated and indeed desperately clung to their dignity as the huge and powerful waves of the city pounded their shores.

And this is what a City team can do with such extravagant forwards. They can involve one of the best teams in Europe in a football match that has seemed rather sloppy for a long time and yet emerge as clear winners.

This is just one of the reasons why we should consider Pep Guardiola’s teams favorites to finally win this competition. Despite the mental demons that seem to haunt Guardiola and sometimes seem to throw him off course in the Champions Leagueis his team so profoundly and magnificently talented that once again it seems inconceivable that this won’t be their breakout season.

If we assume that City does not suffer a disaster at the Allianz Arena next week, Real Madrid or Chelsea await in the semi-finals. They will fear neither. Real eliminated them in the last four last season, but it was a fluke. City were the better team in both legs but lost at death. It happens but it shouldn’t happen again.

This was a real test for the English champions on a bad night of early spring weather in Manchester. It was far from easy and was a more complex assignment than the final score suggests.

But it was never going to be easy and the fact that they managed to come through such a flurry of big punches should propel them forward in Europe and even the Premier League in the coming weeks.

City’s goals were great. Rodri’s 25-yard shot was something of geometric beauty. Erling Haaland’s chipped cross to let Bernardo Silva head in in the 20th minute was just really clever.

And Haaland’s own goal, six or seven minutes later, came from the team’s collective desire to bully an opponent when they were at their weakest. It was just as impressive in its own way as the last one and will probably make a difference next week.

Not that City necessarily need a three-goal tie to win the tie. No, that’s not it. It’s that Thomas Tuchel’s players now know they need something very special – rather than just unlikely – to extend their streak in this year’s competition.

Guardiola will worry about Kevin de Bruyne’s knee. The Belgian got stuck in the turf with his studs in the second half and seemed to stretch it hyper. That’s the kind of accident that damages ligaments.

Other than that, this was perfect for City. Early on, they missed their usual threat. Bayern were just as calm and structured and confident as we expected. City lacked momentum and only created the one chance, Haaland grabbed a flick from Jack Grealish to shoot low to Yann Sommer.

The Bayern goalkeeper was said to be having an increasingly busy night, but at the moment there was no sign of that. Indeed, it took a deflection from a defender’s heel to get City moving just before the half hour mark.

Young Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala probably would have scored if Ruben Dias hadn’t blocked his low shot. It was a major distraction. And in about a minute, City were leading as Dias turned in from the right and moved into space to curl a stunning left foot shot around Bayer captain Joshua Kimmich and past Sommer’s right into the top corner. What a goal. What an unlikely goalscorer.

It was a goal that looked to give City an adrenaline rush and that would be reflected when they finally scored their second much later in the game. Here they were denied by Sommer’s foot as he deflected a shot from Ilkay Gundogan while he was on the ground. It was a great rescue and there would be more.

But first came a crucial and decisive period of the game. Former City striker Sane had hit a long shot over goal just before half-time and came in for the second period, three times disallowed by Ederson in seven minutes. Each shot hit hard and each could have easily gone in.

Bayern was at the top for fifteen minutes or more. Grealish did well, bending a cross over the bar in the 55th minute and from the corner Matthijs de Ligt looked poised to head Bayern provided only City defender Nathan Ake got close to the goal line.

A goal here for the Germans and this draw could have turned. Bayern looked capable. But City’s late wave was just too much for Tuchel’s team to resist. Their second goal was a disaster for Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano. Robbed by Grealish as he tried to carry the ball out in the 70th minute, the City player hit back to Haaland who cleverly crossed for Silva to head in.

That felt like a great game, but better was to come. In the 76th minute, a City cross deep to the far post found Stones who headed back for Haaland to volley into the stretch.

There could have been more. Sommer had to save two more times before he finished. But three was enough. Munich had gone from the game to the canvas in an instant. Game over. Tie up.

UEFA Champions League is only available on Stan sports.