City lost their hair at the Etihad. Guardiola's team was effective, accurate, energetic and forceful to set foot and a half in the semifinals of the Champions League. He did it after submitting to Bayern, which he tore into shreds in the last third of the match after advancing in the first part. Two great goals, one from Rodri and another from a great Bernardo Silva, and a third goal from Håland (45 this season) catapulted the Manchester team, who will appear next Wednesday in Munich with a juicy advantage.
The match was presented as a combat between two giants. Two capital teams, full of nuances and resources led from the band by posh strategists. Josep Guardiola, City's sporting patron, and Thomas Tuchel, recently signed by Bayern, showed that they had studied the match thoroughly. First with their lineups. Pep opted for four central theorists, although when City had the ball Stones joined the midfield. Meanwhile, Tuchel left Mané and Müller on the bench and bet his offense on the incisive Sané and Coman and the always fast Davies.
The first thing to see was who was imposing their plan. In that sense, he seemed to get into City better, finding Bernardo Silva and turning Gündogan into an undetectable arrival. With a lot of equality and respect between the two, but the Etihad team generated a greater sense of danger, always with the threat of Håland. As usual, he did not intervene too much but his presence required Upamecano's permanent attention. Gündogan and De Bruyne took advantage of this, with more freedom. On the other side, Musiala tried to pause with Kimmich. Bayern had slightly more ball possession but lacked depth. A shot from Musiala that Rúben Dias masterfully deflected and another from Sané, on the brink of half-time, that brushed the post were his only options in this stretch.
By then City was already in command, uncorking the score in the most unexpected way. It was running on minute 27 when Rodri controlled a ball a few meters behind the front line. He maneuvered, shifted the ball to his left leg and hit a beautiful spin shot past Sommer.
The English goal had further activated the match and Bayern took a step forward. An offensive that continued into the restart when Sané was close to marking his former team. Ederson rescued City there with a good hand and shortly after he also extracted another from an attempt by Sané. From box to box at the other end of the field Sommer and Upamecano came close to messing it up with a mess that Håland couldn't solve.
At times there was electricity in the Manchester rain and the citizens were forced to defend more than normal. Because Bayern locked up Guardiola's men for a few minutes. But that made the German champion reveal himself more and Aké forced Sommer to intervene. The Bayern goalkeeper would then save his team with a poisoned shot from Rúben Dias. Pure football. Pure Champions.
The time for changes has arrived. More wood. Julián Álvarez came off for De Bruyne, touched, and Mané came on for Bayern in Musiala's place.
But just stepping on the grass Mané Guardiola's team made the second. Upamecano stupidly lost a ball to Grealish and Håland crossed to the head of Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese nailed it into the net (70) to the delight of Guardiola.
The 2-0 left Bayern like a flan and Sommer avoided the third after a shot from Álvarez. Nothing could be done moments later when Håland holed out at 76. The blow to the Bavarians was already tremendous. Bayern's first defeat after eight victories in this Champions League leaves them on the ropes. And, meanwhile, his old coach, Julian Nagelsmann, at home.
