Manchester City will be looking to put domestic distractions aside when they welcome Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
It’s a mouth-watering prospect as the Germans arrive at the Etihad Stadium as the story writes itself.
Former PSG and Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel looks for another win over City while Pep Guardiola continues to search for European glory after leaving Bayern seven seasons ago.
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Norway forward Erling Haaland left the Bundelisga with much success and Sadio Mane returns to England after leaving Liverpool. Mane scored ten times across his 19 meetings with City whilst at Southampton and Liverpool.
City start looking to extend their impressive 24-game unbeaten run in European home games (W22, D2).
City will make history here as one more win or draw will set a new record for the longest Champions League undefeated home run of any English side.
“Tomorrow, we will have the role of the underdog and that is okay. We have to stay confident and stay on top of our game,” Tuchel told reporters on Monday.
When asked how Bayern would deal with City, Tuchel said: “Pep’s teams always have his own unique style. We will try to find ways of competing both with and without the ball.
“There will be moments where we will be suffering and we will have to defend as a block, try to overcome that and try to get more possession.”
The English giants, who are second in the Premier League, have previously knocked out Schalke, Dortmund, Leipzig and Mönchengladbach from this competition – Bayern are the fifth different German club they’ll face in the knockout phase.
Bayern have been eliminated at this stage of the UCL in each of the last two seasons and are at risk of failing to reach the semi-final stage for three straight seasons since 2008/09.
Haaland will enjoy another outing against Bayern even if he lost seven matches as a Dortmund player. He did score five goals from those losing encounters and will be one to watch.
Earlier on Monday, Bayern announced that Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting would miss the match with a knee injury. Tuchel said he had a shortlist of replacements.
“There is no reason Serge Gnabry couldn’t play as a No 9. He may not have the height, but nor do Thomas Muller or Sadio Mane,” Tuchel said.