Bayern Munich (A) | Post Match Thread

domalino said:
If it was just a twinge/grade 1 tear it might only be 2-3 weeks.

He walked off ok and didn’t go down the tunnel for treatment just had it strapped up on the bench.
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Three weeks out would still be a massive blow for someone I consider our player of the year, barring Haaland's incredible feats.

Arsenal will certainly be happier.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Prior to the red card incident, both Sane and Musiala should both put their chances away.

If they were intentional tactics, I dare say Pep wouldn't have felt the need to get Bernie and Jack to afford the wide areas more protection.

I considered neither to be penalties, but that is just my interpretation of the game and the race to the bottom of how the officials see things.

Seconds to Haaland's goal, Eddie pulls off a good save and Bayern have nobody in the six yard area following up.

Don't get me wrong, with three goals banked, we could afford a margin of error, and we had other gears to go to, but my view is Bayern over the two legs could just as easily be claiming the semi-final spot if they had a finisher.
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Our setup and play were intentional tactics, both Bernardo and Kev said they were, so I am not sure why we would doubt their sincerity. Sometimes tweaks are needed based simply on what the opposition ended up doing (which you cannot know until you are well in the first half). And with Pep, they are always had, regardless of how well we are playing.

Bayern are a very good team; arguably the best left in the competition apart from us. They were always going to give us two good games. I agree they desperately needed a finisher, but that is their problem. We can only isolate and exploit the weaknesses set before us.

I think many are just not used to seeing us be more pragmatic, rather than try to suffocate our opposition with possession. But the pragmatism we showed last night—from the very beginning through to the final whistle—is actually what has me so excited.

To me, it shows a newfound maturity to both our players mindset and Pep’s management. We’re seeing new ways of winning; we aren’t simply a Plan A team and pray it works.

I think that should give everyone optimism for the run-in and beyond.
 
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Stoned Rose said:
Performance of the season for me that.

A very un City like set up of “go on then, you have the ball, see if you can score”. Not “us” in the slightest. Pep usually craves control via possession.

To minimise them to as little as we did, at their gaff, playing a way we aren’t accustomed to was incredibly impressive.

We were also very very good at knowing when to create chances and more importantly, the right process to make those chances, and when to just “hold” the ball.

The coaching on display was immaculate imo and the best Pep has drilled them in his time here.

No **** is living with us.

Go and take it lads.
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Anyone moaning about the performance last night are vastly underestimating how good Bayern are. They would murder any other English team over 2 legs. Probably the 2nd best team in Europe, certainly top 3.
 
ManCityGR! said:
It was rather easy after all. Some long shots and dangerous crosses form the left but that was it.
3rd consecutive semi final appearance in CL. Even if we don't get it even now it's a big achievement anyway.

Along with being in semi-finals in FA CUP as also we are in for the championship too, it's already a successful season.
Of course if we are left with 0 trophies would mean a failure but generally speaking we are doing more than fine. And perhaps we will not end up with 0 :)

A big concern is fatigue right now in Premier League, as Arsenal had 10 days to rest while we had Bayern and Sheffield so no rest at all. I hope this doesn't play any role. :( And what lineup against Sheffield? Rodri in? Haaland in? Silva in? KDB in? Dias in? Too many questions. I prefer to risk and rest these key players for Arsenal.
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Arsenal play on Friday.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Three weeks out would still be a massive blow for someone I consider our player of the year, barring Haaland's incredible feats.

Arsenal will certainly be happier.
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It would mean he's back for Real Madrid, the Chelsea-Brentford-Brighton last week of the season and potential FA Cup and CL finals so it would be a pretty big deal!
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Prior to the red card incident, both Sane and Musiala should both put their chances away.

If they were intentional tactics, I dare say Pep wouldn't have felt the need to get Bernie and Jack to afford the wide areas more protection.

I considered neither to be penalties, but that is just my interpretation of the game and the race to the bottom of how the officials see things.

Seconds to Haaland's goal, Eddie pulls off a good save and Bayern have nobody in the six yard area following up.

Don't get me wrong, with three goals banked, we could afford a margin of error, and we had other gears to go to, but my view is Bayern over the two legs could just as easily be claiming the semi-final spot if they had a finisher.
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Agree with everything you have wrote above. Last night Bayern had 19 shots with 7 on target, Ederson was by far the busier keeper. City had 7 shots with only 2 on target. I thought we were sloppy with the ball and I doubt Madrid will be as profligate if we keep handing them chances. Having said that, I doubt Madrid have the sheer pace of Bayern so we may get a little more time on the ball.
 
Jam Tomorrow said:
Agree with everything you have wrote above. Last night Bayern had 19 shots with 7 on target, Ederson was by far the busier keeper. City had 7 shots with only 2 on target. I thought we were sloppy with the ball and I doubt Madrid will be as profligate if we keep handing them chances. Having said that, I doubt Madrid have the sheer pace of Bayern so we may get a little more time on the ball.
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Madrid are quicker in attack than Bayern IMO.

Vinicius, Rodrigo and Valverde are rapid!

As others say, however, their build-up is slower, so we just need to take care of the ball.
 
Stoned Rose said:
Performance of the season for me that.

A very un City like set up of “go on then, you have the ball, see if you can score”. Not “us” in the slightest. Pep usually craves control via possession.

To minimise them to as little as we did, at their gaff, playing a way we aren’t accustomed to was incredibly impressive.

We were also very very good at knowing when to create chances and more importantly, the right process to make those chances, and when to just “hold” the ball.

The coaching on display was immaculate imo and the best Pep has drilled them in his time here.

No **** is living with us.

Go and take it lads.
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Great post mate, perfectly put.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Don't believe the hype, we are nowhere near previous levels.

Timing is everything and we may just have it on our side, but ignore the hype train.

We got a chasing last night, certainly first half and were let off the hook.

Dias and Bernie had to compensate for some very below-par showings from Ake, Gundo, Kev and Rodri.

Still huge games to come in between and would have preferred Madrid at home for first leg, like Bayern, try and wipe them out.

No away goal means that whole playing home second is no advantage.
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Agree that our performance in the first half was shaky. But our game management in the second half was much better and a night that could have been complete chaos (we've seen it before in Monaco and Madrid) ended up being pretty uneventful. Apart from Sané missing two 1 on 1 chances, Bayern created next to nothing across both legs. Plus Ederson is a City player and he is allowed to make crucial interventions without it being seen as a failure by the other 10 City players that Ederson had to make a good save.

Have to disagree about us not having an advantage with the second leg at the Etihad as well. The away goals rule no longer counting does mean the odds are slightly more in Madrid's favour than they would have been 2/3 years ago, but going to Bernabeau needing to protect any scoreline basically makes no difference in this competition. Of all the teams that just do not fuck off, Madrid are the team that just do not fuck off the most. I'd much rather lose 2-1 in Madrid and bring them back to ours than win 2-1 at the Etihad and have to go to the Bernabeau.

This City team, like 99% of teams, is at its best when it has one plan in mind: play to win. You could see it in the first half last night that we were caught in two minds over whether to protect or extend our lead, and our approach was a bit disjointed as a result. Getting to half-time at 0-0 was huge, though, and you could sense it when we came back out - Bayern never got going again like they did in the first half and they didn't have a killer up front (like Benzema, Vinicius or Haaland) to randomly stab one in when the chips were down.

It got a bit end-to-end for 10 mins just after half-time but the time between Haaland shooting straight at Sommer from Grealish's pass and then scoring the goal to make it 1-0 was about two minutes. We got in, straight through on goal, twice in two minutes... at the Allianz. We definitely were the better, more clinical team across two legs and deserved to go through. If Rodri, Gundo, Kev, etc. are going to have off-nights at the same time, it's best that they do it in a game we're already winning 3-0 and in a game where Bernardo, Ederson, and Grealish all stepped up.

But I do agree with you that the performance vs. Bayern, at least in the first half, was a big concern with Madrid coming up. It's why I'm really fucking relieved that whether we go into the 2nd leg needing to protect or chase the game, we're at least doing it at home, where we've not lost in 25 European games. The other way around, I would not be confident at all, I'll be honest.
 
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