Man City 3-0 Bayern Munich
Manchester City took a huge step towards reaching the Champions League semi-finals with a convincing 3-0 win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday, and the triumph was largely influenced by their Portuguese duo.
Bernardo Silva scored the second and Rúben Dias was a standout performer in defence as the English champions maintained their treble ambitions. After the match, City manager Pep Guardiola was glowing in his praise of Bernardo, who also assisted the first goal of the night for Rodri.
From a Portuguese perspective, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the evening at City’s Etihad Stadium was the return of João Cancelo in the colours of Bayern. Cancelo switched to Germany in January on a loan deal until the end of the season, but was not selected by manager Thomas Tuchel for the visiting line-up. Cancelo was introduced for the final ten minutes in place of Alphonso Davies.
City’s memorable night began when Rodri received the ball from Bernardo and curled a sweet shot into the top corner from outside the box in the 27th minute. The opener came just a couple of minutes after Bayern had threatened to take the lead, only for ex-Benfica stopper Dias to brilliantly block Jamal Musiala’s goal-bound effort.
The home side were aggressive in their pursuit of more goals in the second half, encouraged hugely by a Bayern side vulnerable when building the play in defence. Bernardo’s goal came in the 70th minute when Erling Haaland caught Dayot Upamecano in possession and crossed for the Seleção man to head past Yann Sommer. Haaland added what could be a vital third from John Stones’ lay-off five minutes later.
Guardiola’s Bernardo praise
“Bernardo is a football player,” said Guardiola after the match. “What does it mean? He will play everywhere, every position, even left back, everywhere because he understands the game in every action Bernardo has the ability to read the game.
“But Bernardo is such an important player, especially in these type of games, he can play holding midfield, he can play false nine. We need this type of player. And lately he has scored a lot of goals. He always lacked that a little bit.
“He is a player if you say play in this position, you don’t have to say anything else, he understands everything. Understands everything.
“From my point of view, I was lucky as a manager to have incredible, outstanding players at Barcelona and Munich. He is one of the best players I ever trained in my life. Ever. He is something special, a special football player.”
The sides meet for the second leg in Munich next Wednesday. City are still fighting on three fronts: they trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by six points, but have their title hopes in their hands with a game fewer played and a home meeting with the Gunners yet to play, while an FA Cup semi-final against Championship side Sheffield United offers an excellent chance of a place in the final.
By Sean Gillen
