Bayern Munich realizes the surmountable odds that lay in front of them ahead of the second leg of their UEFA Champions League clash against Manchester City on Wednesday, 19 April. The Citizens put the Bavarians to the sword in the first leg, storming their way to a 3-0 lead.
There haven’t been many instances in Champions League history which has seen a team turn around a 3-0 deficit. Bayern realizes the overwhelming odds against them. But they also know City’s own history of bottling advantages in this competition.
That itself brings the factor of the ‘never say never’ to this game. The Allianz Arena is expected to be the host of a thrilling, end-to-end clash in which the more clinical and level-headed team will prevail.
Last 5 Games
Man City are arguably the most in-form side in Europe’s top-5 leagues right now, having won their last five games in dominant fashion – while Bayern have already started to stumble since Thomas Tuchel took over.
Bayern Munich
Draw: 1-1 vs Hoffenheim
Loss: 3-0 vs Manchester City
Win: 1-0 vs Freiburg
Loss: 2-1 vs Freiburg
Win: 4-2 vs Borussia Dortmund
Manchester City
Win: 3-1 vs Leicester City
Win: 3-0 vs Bayern Munich
Win: 4-1 vs Southampton
Win: 4-1 vs Liverpool
Win: 6-0 vs Burnley
Predicted Lineups
Bayern Munich should be able to welcome back forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting for this match after he returned to training ahead of this key clash.
They’re still missing two key first-team players in Manuel Neuer and Lucas Hernandez, who are out for the rest of the season with nasty injuries.
For the Cityzens, however, only Phil Foden remains the injury absentee as he recovers from a hernia surgery that he underwent last month.
Bayern Munich: Sommer, Cancelo, Pavard, De Ligt, Davies, Kimmich, Goretzka, Coman, Musiala, Muller, Choupo-Moting
Manchester City: Ederson, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodri, Silva, Walker, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish, Halaand
Head-to-Head
Bayern have a relatively topsy-turvy record against the Citizens, having won three out of the seven times they’ve met in competitive games in their history.
The last game, of course, saw City comprehensively defeat the Bavarians in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland all got into the scoring act.
Where the game will be decided
City completely rolled over Bayern in the first leg, but the Bundesliga giants also contributed to their own downfall by making poor, uncharacteristic errors on the night as well.
They definitely cannot afford to repeat that at the Allianz Arena if they even hope to make a comeback. Bayern needs to learn from their mistakes, be more careful in playing the ball out of defense and be much better with their decision-making in the final third.
Bayern can’t expect a side like City to park the bus and sit back, especially with the kind of insane form the Premier League giants are in. Pep Guardiola will look to dominate possession and take the fight to his former side – with the likes of Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva all being menacing figures the Bavarians must keep an eye on.
Tuchel has to get his tactics completely spot on to outwit Guardiola and reawaken the bottling nature in City. If he can get his side to produce their best performance of the season (so far) and finish their chances ruthlessly, then Bayern might have a chance at creating history.
Prediction
We back this game to be an entertaining, goal-scoring draw. Bayern could cause more problems for City with their home advantage, but Guardiola’s side is just too strong at the moment for this topsy-turvy Bundesliga side to carve down.
The Bavarians should be able to score in this one, but City’s attacking players are working with perfect unison right now and should make this game a pretty entertaining one.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 2-2 Manchester City
Odds*
Bayern Munich to win: 7/4
Draw: 11/4
Manchester City to win: 7/5
City are the bookmakers’ favorite to be able to win this game with 7/5 odds. That means if one was to bet $1 on them to win, then they’d get a return of $2.40, with a $1.40 return.
Bayern have been given pretty good odds to win with their 7/4 odds. That means if one was to bet $1 on them to win, the desired result would get them a return of $2.75 – with a $1.75 return.
*By BetUS At the time of writing
Kick-Off Time
The game will kick off at 20:00 GMT and the referee will be Clement Turpin.