Pep Guardiola claimed he was "emotionally destroyed" and had aged 10 years during Manchester City’s stunning 3-0 Champions League win over Bayern Munich.
City travel to Germany for the return leg next week confident of securing a place in the semi-finals of Europe's premier club competition for a third successive year after clinical finishing from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland saw them take control of this quarter-final tie.
City manager Guardiola, who reached the last four three times as Bayern boss, said: “Emotionally I’m destroyed. I have 10 more years today. It was so demanding a game. It was not comfortable.
“Now I have to relax – a day off for the guys, prepare for Leicester [in the Premier League on Saturday].
“After five, six minutes it was a tight game and in part of the game they were better than us. It was difficult to control them.
“In the last minutes of the [halves] we were better and we scored three fantastic chances.”
The first half was evenly contested but City claimed the initiative with a spectacular strike from Rodri after 27 minutes.
A powerful header from Bernardo Silva and Haaland’s 45th goal of a remarkable season wrapped up a convincing win as City stepped up the pressure in the second half.
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Manchester City's Erling Haaland scores their third goal in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium on April 11, 2023. AFP -
Erling Haaland scores Manchester City's third goal. Getty -
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring the third. AP -
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates the third goal. Reuters -
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva scores their second goal. Reuters -
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva celebrates after scoring the second goal. AP -
Manchester City's Rodri celebrates after scoring his team's first goal. Getty -
Manchester City's Rodri scores his side's opening goal against Bayern Munich. AP -
Manchester City's Rodri celebrates his opener. Getty -
Bayern's Leroy Sane shoots. AP -
Manchester City's Ederson saves from Bayern Munich's Leroy Sane. Reuters -
Manchester City's Ruben Dias attempts a shot. AFP -
Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich takes on Rodri of Manchester City. Getty -
Erling Haaland of Manchester City shoots. EPA -
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne takes on Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard and Leroy Sane. AFP -
Bayern Munich's Matthijs de Ligt goes down injured. Reuters -
Dayot Upamecano of Bayern Munich argues with referee Jesus Gil Manzano. EPA -
Bayern keeper Yann Sommer clears from Jack Grealish. Getty -
Jack Grealish of Manchester City lies injured. EPA -
Manchester City's Nathan Ake and Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman. PA -
Manchester City's Jack Grealish in action with Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard. Reuters -
Bayern's goalkeeper Yann Sommer clears the ball as Manchester City's Jack Grealish closes in. AP -
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Yann Sommer throws a smoke bomb from his goalmouth. AFP -
Manchester City's Jack Grealish and Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard. PA -
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola talks to Manuel Akanji. AFP -
Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel. Reuters -
Erling Haaland of Manchester City in action against Dayot Upamecano of Bayern. EPA -
Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City fights for possession with Joshua Kimmich of Bayern. Getty -
Erling Haaland of Manchester City shoots. Getty -
Manchester City's Nathan Ake and Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman battle for the ball. PA -
Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan tangles with Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich. Reuters
With the second leg still to come in Germany next week, however, Guardiola is not taking anything for granted.
He said: “It was an incredible result but I know a little bit what can happen in Munich.
“If you don’t perform really well they are able to score one, two, three. I know that, the players know that.
“It’s an incredible result, but we have to do our game with huge, huge personality. If we don’t do our game anything can happen.
“To knock out these teams you have to have two good games, not just one.”
Haaland set up Silva’s goal before netting himself to establish a new record for the most goals scored by a Premier League player in a single season.
Guardiola said of his Norwegian striker: “He’s always a threat. In the first half [he was] not in the game but in the second half we started to play better and he was part of the game.
“He showed he has the quality to assist as well. He is not just a top scorer.”
Ratings
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MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 8. Called into action just after the restart by a Leroy Sane shot. Made three other saves against Sane to help protect the Citizens' lead. Getty -
Manuel Akanji - 8. Blocked a ferocious shot from Kimmich in the 36th minute. Dealt well with the threat of Coman in the first half but struggled to track the runs of Sane in the second. Reuters -
Nathan Ake - 8. Had a pop at goal in the 56th minute but was denied by a good save from Sommer. Kept Sane quiet in the first half and Coman in the second. PA -
Ruben Dias - 8. Made a goal-saving block against Musiala in the 25th minute. Almost doubled the home side's lead when he controlled the ball with his chest and took aim at goal deep into the second half. PA -
John Stones - 8. Hardly put a foot wrong all game, and it was his header across the face of goal that found Haaland put City three up in the 77th minute. PA -
Rodri - 9. Opened the scoring with a spectacular curler from more than 25 yards in the 28th minute. Only a mouthwatering save from Sommer denied him a second goal from a header late on. Getty -
Bernardo Silva - 9. Assisted Rodri's goal with a simple pass infield. On another occasion, he showed his skill by slipping the ball through the legs of Davies and Pavard with just two touches on the hour. Doubled City's lead with a beautiful header back across goal with 20 minutes remaining. AFP -
Kevin De Bruyne - 7. A quick one-two with Gundogan almost led to a chance to double City's lead on the stroke of half-time. Wasn’t at his mercurial best. EPA -
Ilkay Gundogan - 7. Denied a shot at goal by a last-ditch Kimmich block in the 20th minute. He then saw a close-range shot surprisingly saved by Sommer soon after. Performed well as the team’s chief creator after De Bruyne was substituted. AFP -
Jack Grealish - 8. Displayed great vision to play Haaland in with a back-heeled pass in the 22nd minute. Played Ake in with another back-heeled layoff just shy of the hour mark. Began the move that led to the second goal by stealing the ball from Upamecano and backheeling the ball into the path of Haaland. AP -
Erling Haaland - 9. Assisted the second goal with a cross to Bernardo Silva before netting himself, reacting quickest to Stones's header across the face of goal to put his side three up in the 70th minute. AFP -
SUBS: Julian Alvarez (De Bruyne, 68') - 7. Should have made it three when he was found in the box by a Gundogan cutback 15 minutes from time. Saw another shot of his flash just wide in the closing stages. Reuters -
BAYERN MUNICH RATINGS: Yann Sommer - 8. Had a heart-in-mouth moment in the 14th minute as Haaland almost deflected his clearance into the net. Made a great double save to deny Grealish and Gundogan in the 34th minute. Ended the game with ten saves. PA -
Benjamin Pavard - 6. Did well to stop a quick one-two between De Bruyne and Gundogan that could have led to a huge chance on the stroke of half-time. His deflected cross had Ederson worried after the break. AP -
Alphonso Davies - 6. Snatched at a shot when he was given space at the edge of Manchester City's penalty area in the early exchanges. Played a superb pass to put Sane through on goal just after the break. Getty -
Dayot Upamecano - 4. At fault for City’s second goal, as his indecisiveness gave Grealish the chance to steal the ball and play Haaland in on goal. Made another mistake in defence that wasn’t punished just a minute later. AP -
Matthijs de Ligt - 6. Was the more assured of the Bavarian's centre-backs but he got caught out a number of times by City's crisp passing. Was caught ball-watching as the home side grabbed a third. EPA -
Leon Goretzka - 5. Stationed just in front of the Bayern Munich backline, Goretzka was overrun by City’s midfielders. He seemed to have too much to do on his own when the home side hit the visitors on the counter. AP -
Joshua Kimmich - 7. Showed great awareness of his surroundings by racing to the far post to deny Gundogan a shot a goal in the 20th minute. Made a last-ditch block to deny Haaland a shot at an open goal after the break. AP -
Jamal Musiala - 6. Denied by a Dias block when he was presented with Bayern's first real chance in the 25th minute. Skipped past Pep Guardiola’s defensive line in the 41st minute but there was no red shirt in the box to apply the finish to his cutback. Getty -
Kingsley Coman - 5. Found very little joy against Akanji at right-back in the first half. Faired a little better after switching wings with Sane in the second half but still didn't trouble Ederson’s goal. PA -
Leroy Sane - 7. Tested Ederson with a well-hit shot from the edge of the box just after the restart. Denied by Ederson again four minutes later when he was played through on goal by Davies. Getty -
Serge Gnabry - 5. Played up front as the team's most advanced player, and struggled in his unfamiliar role. The duo of Stones and Dias kept him very quiet. PA -
SUBS: Sadio Mane (Musiala, 68) - 6. Worked hard after coming on and held the ball up well against City’s defence. He clearly looked more suited to the false nine role in his short time on the pitch than Gnabry. AFP -
Thomas Muller (Gnabry, 80) - N/A. A willing runner but had very little impact after coming on. AP -
Joao Cancelo (Davies, 80) - N/A. Put in a number of dangerous crosses but none of his teammates were on hand to turn them into the net. Reuters
Guardiola has been regularly criticised for overly tinkering with his side when it comes to the crunch in the Champions League knockout stages.
But it was Tuchel who made some bold calls with his team selection as Thomas Muller and Sadio Mane were left on the bench, alongside Joao Cancelo on his return to the Etihad after joining Bayern on loan in January.
Tuchel, who plotted Chelsea’s 2021 final win over City, felt the scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game.
He said: “I try to not allow my players to focus on the result. I think it is not a deserved result, it does not tell the story of this match.
“We played with personality, courage and a lot of quality but we didn’t get the rewards we deserved.
“This does not feel a 3-0 but it is a 3-0. It is a huge task to turn it around but we will not give up.
“It is a home match in Germany and, as they say, it will not be over until we are in the shower.”
