Champions League picks: Bayern Munich vs. Manchester City prediction
Tuesday’s Champions League tilt between Manchester City and Bayern Munich could be the biggest match of the 2022-23 soccer season to date.
Not only are City and Bayern the two favorites to win the Champions League, but most power ratings have the two clubs ranked first and second, respectively, in the world.
City is an odds-on favorite to advance to the semifinals over Bayern, but this won’t be a straightforward task for the Cityzens.
Manchester City vs. Bayern Munich prediction
(3 p.m. ET)
Pep Guardiola’s Champions League reputation is well known at this point in his legendary career.
The Spaniard has won the competition twice, but it’s been over a decade since Pep lifted the trophy with Barcelona in 2011.
In fact, he’s only been to one Champions League Final (2020-21) since that triumph.
The lack of European hardware has put a ton of pressure on Guardiola’s shoulders in Manchester and on the soccer scene.
Pep’s City teams have won four Premier League titles during his tenure, but this is a club that has its sights set on winning the Champions League.
And, although they’ve come close a couple of times, Guardiola has not been able to tick that box.
So you can imagine the anguish that Guardiola felt when his City team was drawn against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
The Cityzens would be a massive favorite over almost every other team left in the competition, but draws like this make the Champions League incredible theater.
Throwing further chaos into everything is the fact that Bayern Munich sacked manager Julian Nagelsmann despite the fact that the Bavarians are in first place in the Bundesliga and just beat Paris Saint-Germain — the third favorite to win the Champions League before the knockout stage started — in the Round of 16.
Replacing Nagelsmann is Thomas Tuchel, who just so happens to have a terrific record against Guardiola over their respective careers.
What all of this adds up to is anybody’s guess, but it does feel like a good chunk of Tuesday’s first leg will be a bit of a feeling-out process for the two sides.
City is never afraid to be pragmatic when the situation calls for it, while Bayern will still be adjusting to Tuchel’s structured approach.
Both teams are loaded with world-beating talent and could run rampant on any given night, but this match has every chance to turn into a chess match where one bounce or lucky break determines who goes into the second leg with a lead.
That always benefits the underdog — especially one as good as Bayern Munich.
