Pep Guardiola has said that Manchester City will face “11 players, not the history” of Bayern Munich when they meet in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday. City currently hold a three-goal advantage from the first leg, but Guardiola is aware of the threat posed by Bayern, who have won the trophy six times. He said, “We don’t play against what they achieved, but having something like that is something special.” City have yet to win the Champions League, having lost the 2021 final to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea and were beaten in last season’s semi-finals by an incredible Real Madrid comeback. Guardiola wants his side to further “punish” Bayern after their outstanding first-leg performance in Manchester. He said, “We must focus on what we have to do to control the game, punish them, come here to win the game in Munich against one of the most historic teams in the competition.” Guardiola, who managed Bayern for three years before taking charge of City in 2016 and leading them to four Premier League titles, added, “It’s nice to travel around and play these types of opponents, it’s nice to be here and try to make an incredible achievement and reach the semi-final again.” City are boosted by the return of midfielder Phil Foden after he returned to training with the squad on Tuesday, having been sidelined since having his appendix removed last month.
Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his side face a mammoth task to overcome Manchester City, saying that it will take a “miracle” for them to do so. He said, “Playing against Manchester City is a massive challenge, they are in great form recently. It’s in our own hands, we need to give it everything. We’re not alone, we have a good team and we have the fans. We have to go step by step.” Bayern could be boosted by the return of top scorer Eric Choupo-Moting after a knee injury and former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane will also be available after being suspended for reportedly punching team-mate Leroy Sane following the 3-0 loss at City. Tuchel added, “We believe in ourselves and know we can win both halves. If we do that, anything can happen, especially if we get a bit of luck which we didn’t have in the first leg. We will take things one half at a time.”