With his 45th goal of the season, Erling Haaland led Manchester City to a stunning 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
Rodri and Bernardo Silva added to the scoreline for the English champions, who moved closer to their elusive European dream. City boss Pep Guardiola enjoyed a triumphant return to his former club, but he cautioned that the tie is not over yet.
“I’ve been three years there and I know in Europe this team is special. To knock out these type of teams you have to make two good games not just one,” said Guardiola.
“I know exactly what we have to do there, They are capable to score one, two, three goals. We have to do our game with huge personality.”
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel had a score to settle with City in the Champions League, after they lost to his Chelsea team in the 2021 final. He took charge of the German champions less than three weeks ago, hoping to turn the tables on Guardiola’s men. He felt his side deserved a better result.
“I try to not allow my players to focus on the result because it is not the deserved result, it does not tell the story of this match,” said Tuchel.
“I’ve seen so many good things that I refuse to just focus on the result. You may say ‘that’s not Bayern’ but I was very proud on the sideline, we were courageous and showed the right character.”
City beat Bayern and other European rivals to sign Haaland a year ago for nights like this and the Norwegian delivered a clinical performance.
Haaland missed a rare chance when his weak shot was easy for Yann Sommer.
City thanked Ruben Dias for a brilliant block to stop Jamal Musiala scoring for Bayern. Rodri then showed the forwards how it is done as he fired a stunning shot with his left foot into the top corner on 27 minutes.
