Bayern Munich needs a miracle

The duel of the two giants in the Champions League quarter-finals enters the second round and there is much to talk about. Bayern slides from one scandal to the next , from a questionable change of coach to a humiliating performance in the first leg to a literal exchange of blows in the players' locker room. After the 3-0 win in the first leg, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel's team needs a miracle to bring the Premier League's leading club to its knees.

The starting position looks bad for FC Bayern Munich. If they want to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, they have to catch up from a deficit of three goals. If this is not achieved, this is probably the final proof that the short-term change of coach was a grab into the toilet. After winning the top duel in the German Bundesliga against BVB under Tuchel, they were eliminated from the DFB Cup in the quarter-finals. 

And now the next bankruptcy is already waiting. Because Pep Guardiola will probably not make it too easy for Bayern. If they want to win the game, they should first think about Erling Haaland. Because if the Norwegian continues to play like before, they can definitely expect at least one goal from him, and then it will be really difficult for Munich. In football, however, you never know exactly what's going to happen, as demonstrated by Barcelona's comeback from a four-goal deficit in the 2016/17 Champions League round of 16.

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Coach Tuchel is under fire

One thing is certain: if Bayern Munich should be eliminated from the Champions League, coach Thomas Tuchel can wrap up warmly. The mid-season move ahead of three extremely important games came as a surprise to everyone, also for EX coach Julian Nagelsmann. There are numerous rumors about this dismissal, but the official version of FC Bayern is that the team's performance no longer met the expectations of the board. 

Whether it was a good decision to sack the coach in the middle of the final round of the DFB Cup, the Champions League and before the top Bundesliga duel against Dortmund will probably finally be seen on Wednesday. Thomas Tuchel, former successful coach at the clubs FC Chelsea and PSG, with whom he has already celebrated success in the Champions League, has not yet been able to convince. Eliminated in the DFB Cup and in the Bundesliga he was only able to win an X against Hoffenheim. After the failure in Manchester, Tuchel spoke of the "worst game" under his management.

To put it very simply, FC Bayern Munich's performance leaves a lot to be desired. The question remains who is to blame: coach or team? The fact is: Bayern's offense hasn't scored a goal for 400 minutes.Kingsley Coman scored in the duel for first place in the Bundesliga against Borussia Dortmund. In the games that followed, Bayern only scored three more goals, and all of the goalscorers came from the defensive. A very questionable statistic. There is a goal doldrums for striker Leroy Sane, who has missed 12 of his last 13 big chances, and for Gnabry, who is now eight Bundesliga games without a goal. However, it may not be entirely due to the form of the players, because Thomas Müller, who scored two goals against Dortmund, was only allowed to play a mere ten minutes against City. Sadio Mane's substitution in the 69th minute may have come too late.

A lot could change in the starting XI against Manchester City. First-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer remains injured, until then Sommer will continue to replace him. The substitute goalkeeper has not been able to show his best performances in the last few games against City and TSG and has had a few major mistakes, which must now be avoided in the second leg. The fans also wonder whether his missing a few centimeters on Neuer cost him a few goals. Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies were absent from the current training session, both training indoors at the academy. 

The question remains who will play in central defense after Upamecano's terrible performance against the Citizens, Lucas Hernandez is definitely not because he is still struggling with his cruciate ligament injury. There is a small glimmer of hope in the offensive!Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting celebrates his comeback in training. The striker was out in the first leg due to knee problems, but was able to take part in the current training session without any problems and is therefore a conceivable option for Gnabry. With Musiala, Mane, who is back in the squad after his suspension against Hoffenheim after the action in the dressing room against Sane, and Müller, coach Tuchel still has many good options in attacking midfield and up front.

Cautious Manchester City

There's no such thing as a goal drought at Manchester City. Coach Pep Guardiola's team celebrated their tenth consecutive win in the last game of the Premier League. However, the City coach warns ahead of the second leg: "If we are passive, we will suffer." Having coached Bayern Munich himself for three years before moving to Manchester City, Guardiola is convinced that the current conflict-ridden situation will hurt the club make more dangerous. FCB will put on their best performance on Wednesday after the 3-0 defeat in the first leg, the debate about Sadio Mané's assault on Leroy Sané and the disappointing 1-1 draw against Hoffenheim. 

"Sometimes you need conflict to bring the team together", said Guardiola after the Citizens' 3-1 win over Leicester City in the Premier League. It is interesting to mention that if Bayern manage to turn the result in the second leg, they won't be the first. In the history of the competition, four teams have already shown that it is possible to come back from a 3-0 deficit: Deportivo La Coruña (2003/04 against Milan), FC Barcelona (2016/17 against Paris Saint-Germain), AS Roma (2017/18 against Barcelona) and Liverpool FC (2018/19 against Barcelona).

Pep Guardiola can definitely be proud of his team. In the Premier League, four points down (and a game down) means they still have a chance of clinching the title after Arsenal have now drawn back-to-back. In the FA Cup, too, things are going like clockwork and they were able to reach the semi-finals with a 6-0 goal win against Burnley FC. 

They could then meet their city rivals Manchester United in the final, should both teams win in the semifinals. The Citizens have now been unbeaten in 14 games and the results are impressive. They mastered their last ten matches with an unbelievable ratio of 37:4. In general, Man City have only been beaten six times this season, recorded seven draws and won the remaining games in a total of 37 games.

Incidentally, the star striker Erling Haaland breaks all records that can be broken. At 22, he is only the third player with a five-pack in the Champions League. He has scored 34 goals in 26 UEFA Champions League games and already set several records. He is in his fourth season in a premier club and is already 19th in the competition's all-time top scorers list, targeting the likes of Edinson Cavani, Sergio Aguero and Alessandro Del Piero. 

He has already overtaken legends such as Samuel Eto'o, Antoine Griezmann, Kaká and Wayne Rooney. He is now also the youngest player with 30 goals in the premier class, and also needed the fewest games. He is well on his way to overtaking Mbappe, who currently holds the title for the youngest player to score 40 goals. The Norwegian also scored twice against Leicester, so there's a good chance he'll concede a goal or two again against Bayern.

Bayern Munich - Manchester City: What to expect? 

Due to Manchester City's strong form, we would recommend a tip 2 , with odds of 2.40. Since this is the second leg and City may play a little more defensively, an over/under tip would also make sense, under 3.5 would be an option here.

• Under 3.5
• Manchester City to win

* All odds and markets are correct at time of publication and subject to change.