Kick-off: 2000, 19/04/2023
Stadium: Allianz Arena
TV: BT Sport
Manchester City are in pole position to reach the Champions League semi-finals after last week’s emphatic 3-0 win over Bayern Munich.
The German giants played well enough in the first half at Etihad Stadium, but then crumbled after the break and are now 12/1 outsiders to progress.
This should be a more even contest, but we fancy the Blues to ease through with a draw at 11/4 for our initial Bayern Munich vs Man City prediction.
Bayern their own worst enemies
The first leg began at a frantic pace and there were early chances at both ends, with Erling Haaland firing straight at the keeper and Jamal Musiala having a shot blocked.
With 27 minutes gone, City midfielder Rodri broke the deadlock by curling in a sublime left-foot effort from outside the area.
Yann Sommer did well to deny Ilkay Gundogan with his legs and Ederson got down well to keep out a Leroy Sane shot on the break.
Bayern self-imploded in the 70th minute, though, when Dayot Upamecano was dispossessed by Jack Grealish, who fed Haaland to set up Bernardo Silva.
Haaland added a third five minutes later following a John Stones knock down to put City on the brink of a third straight semi-final appearance.
Thomas Tuchel said: “I think we deserved at least one goal but I think our players were lacking a bit in confidence and form. It’s a huge mountain.”
Bayern had previously won eight straight European ties and are unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga, although Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim here won’t have helped to lift morale.
A dressing-room bust-up between Sadio Mane and Sane in Manchester saw the former Liverpool star suspended at the weekend.
Looking at the Bayern Munich vs Man City odds, we feel 10/1 for a 2-2 stalemate is tempting.
Guardiola taking nothing for granted
City are still on course for a historic treble after cruising to a 3-1 home win over Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
Haaland bagged a brace against the Foxes to continue his remarkable campaign and the Blues face Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-finals after this.
Next Wednesday, City have a potential title decider versus Arsenal at Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola has so far resisted the temptation to rotate his squad too much and it will be interesting to see the starting line-up in Munich.
Reflecting on the first encounter, he said: “When you are there, you realise how good Bayern Munich are as a team.
“It was a tight game for 60 minutes. In a lot of moments, they were better than us, but after we got the second goal, that helped us a lot.”
Sommer looked erratic at times between the sticks for Bayern, Upamecano was all over the place in defence and the forwards faded late on.
However, when both sides are firing on all cylinders, we feel these teams are fairly evenly matched.
Let’s finish off our Bayern Munich vs Man City betting tips by taking 19/4 for the scores to be level at half-time and full-time.
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