City exhibited at the Etihad. Guardiola's team was effective, precise, energetic and forceful to put a foot and a half in the semi-finals of the Champions League. He achieved this after subduing Bayern, who he did little by little in the last third of the match, after taking the lead in the first half. Two great goals, one from Rodri and another from a brilliant Bernardo Silva, and a third from Håland (45 this season) catapulted Manchester, who will be presented next Wednesday in Munich with a substantial advantage.
The match was presented as a battle between two giants. Two capital teams, full of nuances and resources led from the sidelines by category strategists. Josep Guardiola, City's sports boss, and Thomas Tuchel, newly signed by Bayern, showed that they had studied the match closely. First, with the lineups. Pep opted for four central players, although, when City had the ball, Stones joined the center of the field. Meanwhile, Tuchel left Mané and Müller on the bench and bet his offense on the incisive Sané and Coman and the ever-quick Davies.
The first thing to see was who was imposing his plan. In this sense, City seemed to enter more fully, finding Bernardo Silva and turning Gündogan into a player who arrives undetected. With a lot of equality and respect between the two, but the Etihad created more of a sense of danger, always with the threat of Håland. As usual, he did not intervene much, but his presence required the permanent attention of Upamecano. Gündogan and De Bruyne took advantage of it, with more freedom. On the other side, Musiala was trying to make a break with Kimmich. Bayern had slightly more of the ball, but lacked depth. A shot by Musiala that masterfully deflected Rúben Dias and another by Sané, near the break, that went over the post were their only options in this section.
By then, City were already in charge, opening the scoreboard in the most unexpected way. In the 27th minute, Rodri controlled a ball a few meters behind the front. He maneuvered, switched the ball onto his left foot and connected a beautiful shot with impact that beat Sommer.
The English goal had activated the match more and Bayern took a step forward. An offense that was maintained in the resumption when Sané was close to marking him for his former team. Ederson rescued City here with a good hand and soon after he pulled out another one too in the face of an attempt by Sané. From area to area at the other end of the field, Sommer and Upamecano were close to getting their paws in a mess that Håland couldn't solve.
At times there was electricity under the rain in Manchester and the citizens were forced to defend more than usual. Because Bayern shut down Guardiola's for a few minutes. But this exposed the German champion 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.
It was time for changes. More wood Julián Álvarez came on for De Bruyne, who was touched, and Mané came on for Bayern in Musiala's place.
But just stepping on the turf Mané, Guardiola's team did the second. Upamecano foolishly lost a ball to Grealish and Håland headed Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese nailed it into the net (70) to Guardiola's delight.
The 2-0 left Bayern like a custard and Sommer avoided the third after Álvarez's shot. He couldn't do anything moments later when Håland scored in the 76th. The setback to the Bavarians was already in the category. Bayern's first defeat after eight wins in this Champions League puts them on the ropes. And, meanwhile, his former coach, Julian Nagelsmann, at home.
