Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel threatens Man City's Champions League dream once more
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Thomas Tuchel (above) now has the challenge of succeeding where Pep Guardiola failed in leading Bayern back to Champions League glory.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Manchester City and Pep Guardiola have a Champions League score to settle against Thomas Tuchel, when the newly appointed Bayern Munich boss visits the Etihad in Tuesday’s first leg of their quarter-final.
Tuchel emerged victorious as Chelsea manager in City’s first and only Champions League final in 2021, and the Blues’ 1-0 win was a case of the apprentice outshining the master.
As a young coach, Tuchel studied and admired Guardiola’s dominant Barcelona side who won 14 trophies from 2008 to 2012, including two Champions League titles.
Their paths then crossed during Guardiola’s three years at Bayern, while Tuchel was coach of Mainz and then Borussia Dortmund.
Two football obsessives, the pair even talked long into the night at a Munich bar in 2014, using glasses and salt and pepper shakers to mimic formations.
Tuchel, 49, had previously admitted he was a “huge admirer” of Guardiola, 52, and the respect was mutual when the latter spoke on Monday.
“It will be difficult against Tuchel,” said Guardiola. “Tuchel is one of the best, maybe the best managers, and has done really well everywhere – in Germany, in Paris (Saint-Germain), in England. So it’s a pleasure to see him again.
“(We want to win the Champions League) a lot. We want to try against an elite club like Bayern Munich. We try to do the first (step) tomorrow.
“We tried every single season but there are teams that you face that they are good too. We want to try like all the time but it doesn’t mean we’re going to win.
“Michael Jordan won six NBA titles, how many seasons he play? Sixteen.
“We have to be perfect in the 95 minutes to get a good result to go to Germany. Tomorrow night, be ready.”
Guardiola has tended to have the upper hand in clashes with Tuchel, winning six of 10 and losing three.
But Tuchel won the most important one and his Champions League pedigree played a large part in Bayern’s swoop to secure his services
He now has the challenge of succeeding where Guardiola failed in leading Bayern back to Champions League glory.
However, the weight of expectation falls much more heavily on the City boss.
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola (above) have a Champions League score to settle against Thomas Tuchel.
PHOTO: AFP
In his seventh season in Manchester, Guardiola is in the gunning for his fifth Premier League title. Yet the failure to get over the line in Europe remains a blot on his copybook.
On Tuesday, though, he will hope to beat Bayern and go all the way to the final in Istanbul in June.
Guardiola will be able to call on a near-fully fit squad, with Phil Foden the only absentee following an appendix surgery.
Tuchel will make the trip without Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, who misses out due to a knee issue.
“We know we have to deliver a perfect game,” the Bayern boss said.
“It is one of football’s biggest tests... but anything can happen in football, when you are ready and believe in yourself. We travel to Manchester with confidence and determination.” AFP
