Man City's antics sent Thomas Tuchel into a frenzy
There is no greater imperative for Manchester City this season than to purge their past traumas in Europe. You felt it in the snarl they brought to this brawl in Bayern Munich's bunker, with their fans so high up in the stands as to be almost above the cloud line. Ilkay Gundogan might be miniature in stature next to Joshua Kimmich, but he still shoved the home captain in the chest just to make his presence felt. His was one of four bookings for City, whose latest audition to be champions of Europe combined their usual tactical nous with a new-found pugnacious streak.
It was all too much for Thomas Tuchel. The Bayern manager had already worked himself into a theatrical frenzy at what he saw as lenient refereeing of City's tackling, making a mocking 'use your eyes' gesture towards the fourth official at half-time. When Aymeric Laporte rugby-tackled Kingsley Coman in the closing stages he could stand it no longer, erupting with such splenetic rage that he was sent to the stands. This is the effect that City exert even on a club that has won the Bundesliga 10 years in a row. They have become so maddening to play against, they can drive the most dominant opponents to distraction.
Jack Grealish fell flat on his back at the final whistle, exhausted by the scrap. It had been far from the prettiest exhibition by these City sophisticates, but it was among the most professional, a sign of their maturing in this competition of endless jeopardy. This was light years removed from their previous stumbles at this stage, a healing of the scar tissue that had formed after agonising last-eight exits against Lyon and Tottenham. But there is at least one more Rubicon left to cross, the first a reunion with Real Madrid in the semi-finals in three weeks' time.
Of all Guardiola's gripes since last lifting the Champions League trophy in 2011, it was City's last-gasp collapse against Real a year ago that grieved him most. Everything suggested they were poised for a second straight final, until Rodrygo's two last-gasp goals gave him cause to fear he was cursed in this tournament. The recovery has been remarkable. The calmness with which they quelled Bayern's first-half bombardment here spoke of a team who have learned how to negotiate the moments with the highest stakes.
Guardiola congratulated himself briefly on reaching a third consecutive semi-final. But then he remembered how faintly absurd this sounded in the context of City preparing to confront true European royalty, the 14-time champions. It was tempting to characterise City versus Real last year as a case of the aristocrats versus the arrivistes, but realities have changed. City are proving to everyone that they are setting a daunting standard, with even Tuchel heralding them as the "benchmark" in Europe. A Treble, 24 years after Manchester United became the first club in English football to accomplish it, remains firmly within reach.
It seems strange to recall how Guardiola, exasperated by his players' sketchy defending, claimed as recently as January that City were "far" from their highest level. Now they are arguably reaching beyond, striving to match their irresistible attacking play with greater defensive steel. This target was achieved at Bayern, with John Stones and Manuel Akanji soaking up much of the threat, even if they left Coman too much space at times. They never allowed Bayern, so formidable when their 75,000 supporters are in fullest voice, to entertain the idea that they could turn this tie around.
Still Guardiola, perfectionist to a fault, was not fully satisfied, explaining how City's passing in the middle third was not sufficiently sequential for his liking. Such is his importance to this seemingly unstoppable super-club. As Chelsea have shown of late, you can sweep up as much eye-wateringly expensive talent as you like, but none of it amounts to much if you lack the leader to join the disparate elements together. Guardiola earns over £20 million a year, but from City's perspective, his is a wisdom that no money can buy. Even after engineering this 4-1 aggregate win over his old club Bayern, a statement result if ever there was one, he was still frantically working out how to perfect the template.
A standard approaching perfection will be required if City are to vanquish Real. The temptation to anoint them favourites should be resisted, given the opposition's pedigree. But the intelligence with which they navigated a tricky path in Bavaria should send an ominous message. They have long had the heavy artillery to pick off Europe's best, but now they have the system, the experience to eliminate previous errors. Plus, they have Erling Haaland, who has never looked more lethal. City had little need for any super-strength German beers as they headed out into the Munich night. For Guardiola is producing the most intoxicating brew of all.
