Pep Guardiola ’emotionally destroyed’ after Man City dominate Bayern

Haaland's 45th goal of the season seals a 3-0 win and puts City firmly in control of Champions League quarter-final tie

Manchester City' manager Pep Guardiola speaks with striker Erling Haaland during the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich at Etihad Stadium. AFP

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.

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

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.”