Erling Haaland scored despite missing a penalty to help Man City produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Champions League. With a 3-0 advantage from the first leg, City withstood an early storm in Germany before Haaland’s calm finish in the 57th minute virtually guaranteed his side’s spot in the last four for the third year in a row. The Norwegian could have started the score earlier had he not blasted a first-half penalty over the bar, and despite Joshua Kimmich’s late spot-kick (83), Pep Guardiola’s men had completed their task.
City’s chances of winning the Champions League for the first time remain very much alive, but they must first defeat current holders and 14-time winners Real Madrid, who defeated Chelsea 4-0 on aggregate in their quarter-final. And they will know better than anybody what a hard task that is, having been eliminated by the Spanish champions in the semi-final stage last year after falling prey to one of Europe’s greatest comebacks. Bayern’s remarkable comeback versus City was always implausible, and they were eliminated in the quarter-finals for the third straight season.
Bayern had new optimism after that miss, and they completed the first half brightly, with Coman blasting at Ederson and Sane, who had a free kick saved earlier, shooting wide from distance. Close-range goals were also denied to Cancelo and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. After the break, Haaland had another chance as Bayern began to tire in their pursuit of the tie, but he shot straight at Yann Sommer. A Coman effort wiggled through Ederson’s hands and bounced across goal for the Germans, but City cleared and Haaland made no mistake at the third attempt.
Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel was issued a red card for allowing his anger to get the better of him and had to watch the final minutes from the stands. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s one concern from an otherwise pleasing night will be the severity of defender Nathan Ake’s probable hamstring injury, which forced him to retire in the second half.
“In the first half, we labored. Upamecano shattered all of our left-side lines, and we struggled with Coman. We were fortunate before to the penalty miss; they had one or two chances and anything might have happened, but we defended quite well,” Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said. “Erling’s ending was just fantastic. He’s still very young. We have a lot of experience in this league, and the players are very motivated to do well. Since minute one, the second half has been much, much better. We are completely exhausted. I’m not sure how we’ll recover to face Sheffield United [in the FA Cup semi-final]. The game on Saturday is at a crossroads.”
“We were on par with the best team in Europe at the time. There was a distinction in self-assurance and form. We were penalized for the few chances we gave up in both games. I don’t believe the score accurately shows the tie,” Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel said. “We had more than enough chances. However, to defeat the top squad, you must give more than your all. You’ll also need some luck, a deflection, a set piece, and the ability to capitalize on those golden opportunities.”
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