IT was the second goal which exemplified Manchester City’s finest Champions League night under Pep Guardiola.
It was the second goal which brought to life the City manager’s vision of total football. And what a beautiful mugging of Bayern Munich it was.
Jack Grealish – a supposed show pony – won a bruising challenge to rob Dayot Upamecano, a centre-half approximately twice his size, and back-heeled to release Erling Haaland.
Then Haaland – supposedly a gluttonous one-track-mind goal machine, forego the chance to shoot and floated a visionary centre to Bernardo Silva.
And Bernardo, the smallest man on the pitch, stuck his nut on it and nodded past Yann Sommer.
Soon after, Haaland notched one of his own – his 45th of a ridiculous campaign – and City were almost home and hosed ahead of the quarter-final second leg in Munich next Wednesday.
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City were excellent here, making elite opposition look thoroughly ordinary as the second half progressed.
They led at the break through Rodri’s first Champions League goal – a long-range belter to compare with Vinny Kompany’s famous strike against Leicester during a title run-in a few seasons ago.
But it was not until the second period when Guardiola’s side skewered the perennial champions of Germany with a relentless attacking verve.
Guardiola loves to sarcastically claim he will be a ‘failure’ if he never wins the Champions League with City.
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But here, at the seventh time of asking, was his team’s most compelling performance at the sharp end of the world’s greatest club competition.
A run of 21 goals in City’s previous four matches had convinced Guardiola to avoid his usual selection brainstorm for a major Champions League fixture.
We’d arrived here in a perfect Mancunian storm, almost assuming he’d drop Haaland.
But against his former club Bayern and his 2021 final nemesis Thomas Tuchel, the Catalan played it straight.
Well as straight as you for a man who has spent a king’s ransom on specialist full-backs but has long since stopped selecting any of them.
Instead, he employs four specialist centre-backs. Tony Pulis used to do the same at Stoke but his team never played like this lot.
Joao Cancelo, allowed out on loan to Bayern after a spat with Guardiola in January, was only on the bench for the Bavarians, although former City winger Leroy Sane was a starter.
Early on, the swirling storm took the edge off proceedings, cat-and-mouse football as it piddled down, cats and sogs.
Haaland, though, was lurking. First the Norse god of goalscoring spun past Dayot Upamecano and shot wide.
Then when keeper Yann Sommer took an extra touch in dealing with a back-pass, Haaland clattered him and almost diverted home.
By the time Haaland had shot straight down the keeper’s throat from a Grealish pass, City were fully finding their feet.
John Stones, sitting in front of the back three, was in full Barnsley Beckenbauer mode against the club of the real McCoy, while Ruben Dias was an effective roadblock any time Bayern surged forward.
When the goal arrived, on 27 minutes, the source was an unlikely one.
Rodri is primarily employed by Guardiola as a burly doorman, suddenly he was centre stage.
When Grealish squared to the Spanish midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan had slipped through the inside-right channel expecting a pass.
But Rodri turned Jamal Musiala, looked up, sized up Sommer and thought ‘I fancy this’.
From almost 25 yards he curled one deliciously into the top corner for his first Champions League goal.
They cavorted in the squall, elation and relief raining down from the terraces.
Sommer was soon flapping at a De Bruyne cross but then stuck out a leg to deny Ilkay Gundogan the chance to double City’s lead.
Either side of half-time, Sane pinged one wide from distance then crashed a swerving shot towards Ederson who saved with his body.
Then, Sane taking it upon himself to take them to game to his former employers, skimmed a shot along the sodden turf, forcing Ederson into a sprawling save.
While Ederson excelled, Sommer – deputising for Manuel Neuer after the German No 1’s skiing injury – was struggling.
He got into a tangle with Upamecano, almost letting in Grealish, and then he slipped and passed straight to Haaland, whose effort was blocked.
Sane took aim again, Ederson saved again. Then the Brazilian tipped over a deflected cross and it was starting to feel nervy inside the Etihad.
Grealish, though, slipped a cunning back-heel to Nathan Ake, whose shot was beaten away by Sommer. Then the Swiss keeper tipped a Bernardo Silva volley over.
By now, Bernardo was in the mood to get up to no good,
In one move, he embarrassed Bayern’s defence with a Cruyff turn, a dummy and a nutmeg – a tasting menu, consisting of pure sauce.
On the other flank, Grealish won a shuddering challenge and stuck out his chest like a man who realised he belonged here.
De Bruyne had just suffered a minor knock when Guardiola withdrew him midway through the second half but he was in no mood for an early cut – refusing the handshakes of his boss and his replacement Julian Alvarez.
Then, Grealish seized the moment, Haaland centred and Bernardo scored.
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Alvarez then had Sommer flinging out an arm to prevent a third but City didn’t have to wait long.
Bayern failed to clear a corner, Bernardo centred, Stones won a big header and Haaland, who doesn’t need much room, was allowed acres to score with a cushioned volley.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
