Manchester City – Bayern Munich : Preview & Prediction
Current Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola swapped the Bayern Munich dugout for England almost seven years ago and has since won just about every trophy possible… except the UEFA Champions League (UCL). The “Cityzens” are the favorites to lift the famous trophy this season, and with a run of eight wins in a row in all competitions ahead of them, confidence should be high for this quarter-final first leg.
After finishing top of their UCL group for the sixth consecutive season under Guardiola, City will be hoping to carve out a niche in this tie by extending their impressive 24-game unbeaten run in European matches at home (G22, E2). In fact, City can make history here, as one more win or draw will set a new record for the longest unbeaten run in the UCL by any English side.
The man looking to end that run is none other than Thomas Tuchel, the former Chelsea manager who defeated City in the 2021 UCL final. Tuchel’s ambitions of wanting to “win every trophy” upon joining Bayern Munich quickly faded when Freiburg knocked them out of the DFB Pokal, although a 1-0 league win over the same opponents at the weekend has kept him on course to record a record 11th consecutive Bundesliga crown in the German top flight.
Bayern have been eliminated at this stage of the UCL in each of the last two seasons and are in danger of failing to reach the semifinals for three consecutive seasons since 2008/09. However, the fact that Bayern has posted a positive result in five of its last seven away games against English opponents should boost its hopes (3G, 2E, 2D), as should the fact that it won 63% of its UCL quarterfinal series (G20, P12).
Players to watch: Two players who swapped the Bundesliga for the Premier League (and vice versa) could star in the show. City’s Erling Haaland scored five goals in seven duels lost to Bayern as a Dortmund player and even scored five goals in City’s last UCL match against Leipzig. As for Bayern, Sadio Mané scored ten times in their 19 meetings against City with Southampton and Liverpool (G7, E5, P7), including four goals in their last three meetings against each other.
Key fact: City previously eliminated Schalke, Dortmund, Leipzig and Mönchengladbach from the UCL – Bayern are the fifth different German club they will face in the knockout stage.
Manchester City – Bayern Munich : Betting Tips
Manchester City – Win Odds: 1.75
