Pep Guardiola has warned his players not to be ‘passive’ in the second leg of Manchester City’s Champions League quarterfinal clash with Bayern Munich.
City will arrive at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday with a three-goal advantage, after securing a superb 3-0 win in the first leg last week.
City adopted an unusual approach at the Etihad Stadium, allowing Bayern to enjoy the majority of possession but forcing them into errors with their pressing and scoring through transitions.
Guardiola’s side were perhaps a tad fortunate to go into half-time with the lead after Rodri broke the deadlock with a stunning long-range strike.
In the second half a ruthless City showed their German opponents no mercy, as Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland put the game beyond doubt.
While it would be a major shock if City were to throw away their aggregate advantage, the tie is certainly not over.
Bayern are a world-class side capable of scoring from nothing, and nobody knows that better than City boss and former Bayern manager Guardiola.
City must finish the job
Ahead of the match, Guardiola highlighted what his players must and mustn’t do if they want to reach the semi-finals for a third successive season.
“I have the feeling that especially Manu Akanji and other ones, thanks to winning duels, we could make an action to attack,” he said.
“Otherwise, with the runners they have, they’ll do it. We have to be strong in this kind of situation.
“I want a City team that are there to win the game. We cannot go there to just… I know exactly the environment in Munich. If you are a little bit passive, we will suffer.
“We have a final in four days… I know the character and personality in this stadium, the players Bayern Munich have. Work a lot in being stable mentally in bad moments, be so aggressive to win. These are the demands I’d like.
“We need a lot of energy on Wednesday. But the energy comes from here [points to the head], not from the legs. How you will be in your mentality in Munich, and against a top, top team – we saw it here.”
Bust-up could help Bayern
Things went from bad to worse for Bayern after last week’s match, when attacker Sadio Mane was involved in a post-match altercation.
He was subsequently left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for Saturday’s Bundesliga meeting with Hoffenheim, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Mane will be in the squad for Wednesday’s game, and Guardiola believes Bayern could use the incident to their advantage.
“Sometimes you need conflict to make the team more together. I’m pretty sure. It’s not a weak point. It’s a strong point.”
