Guardiola emotionally drained after City beat Bayern

Last year was the furthest Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City had gone in the Champions League only to suffer a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in the final. That had to have made yesterday’s Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich, coached by none other than Tuchel, a little more of an emotional game already for Guardiola. Add to that an intense match on the field and you’ve got yourself a few more grays.

Guardiola “emotionally destroyed”

City beat Bayern 3-0 on goals by Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland. Just looking at the score, you would think Guardiola would feel pretty relaxed after a win like that. On the contrary.

“It was not comfortable. Emotionally, I’m destroyed,” he said. “I have 10 more years today. It was such a demanding game. Now I have to relax, a day off for the guys, and prepare for Leicester.”

City had nine shots on target during the game, the most Bayern have had to face in a Champions League knockout game since 2017. A 3-0 lead is a pretty damn good start, but of course, it’s not over until it’s over. Guardiola knows they can’t really relax until the final whistle of the second leg.

“I know exactly what you have to do there [in the second leg against Bayern],” said Guardiola. “If you don’t perform really well, they are able to score one, two, three. I know that. The players know that. It’s an incredible result, but we have to play our game with a huge, huge personality.”

Guardiola coached at Bayern for three years and he knows how well they can perform at their home stadium. “To knock out these teams you have to have two good games, not just one,” he said.

City heads to Munich to play the second leg on Wednesday, April 19 at 3 p.m. ET.