Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
UEFA Champions League
Quarter Final
1st leg
Tuesday
11th April 2023
Etihad Stadium
Tuchel refrains from Cruijff’s trick to stop Haaland
Thomas Tuchel thinks he needs a bit of psychology to achieve a good result at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening. The coach of Bayern Munich knows that Manchester City is not a silly team and revived an anecdote about the late Johan Cruijff.
“This will be a different game than against Paris Saint-Germain in the next round. There will be times when we have to suffer, but we also want to hurt them at times. We have the quality and talent in the selection for that. And we think we have a good idea of what to expect, we want to prevent them from being too dominant,” Tuchel anticipates.
“We have a few injuries, like Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting,” the German said. “But I’m not quite sure yet on one or two positions. If we want to have a chance, it is necessary that when the line-up is announced players will be disappointed, that they will gladly fill in.”
He added, “There is no doubt that it will be a difficult pot against the champion of England. All the less because the home team has access to Erling Haaland, goal machine deluxe. Tuchel is of course also impressed by the Norwegian – just like Matthijs de Ligt. His stats are unbelievably impressive. His physicality and hunger for goals stand out. But it’s not just about him, they also create a lot of opportunities for him as a team,’ said Tuchel. ‘We can only find the solutions together.”
Guardiola compares Manchester City to Michael Jordan and Jack Nicklaus
The comparison between Manchester City and Michael Jordan may not be immediately visible at first glance, but Pep Guardiola does see similarities. Especially when it comes to the prize hunt.
Manchester City still fervently hopes for the first Champions League final victory in history. For years, the English top club has been seen as one of the contenders for that title, but things always go wrong. “We tried last season, the season before, we tried three seasons ago, every season. But you’re up against teams that are also good and want to win,” said Guardiola.
Guardiola therefore accepts that you cannot win everything in sports. He drew the comparison with golfer Jack Nicklaus. He asked, “How many masters and majors has he played in his career? How many of those one hundred and thirty ended in victory? Eighteen. Wow. He loses more than he wins. That’s sports.”
“Michael Jordan, to me the greatest athlete ever in basketball, won six NBA titles in sixteen years. He also loses more than he wins. All games are so difficult. We know we have to be perfect to get a good result here. That’s how I experience the profession. If I lose, I lose. I am not perfect,” the Catalan concluded.
