Manchester City have one foot firmly in the Champions League Semi-Finals after a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich – but this version of the team is something
Manchester City absolute demolished Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Citizens ended up running out 3-0 winners, now look like the favourites outright for a first European title and the return leg looks like a mere formality – what happened to the Pep Guardiola who overthinks everything?
But perhaps what was so impressive about this result was just how controlled it was. City have a habit of dropping the ball when it comes to these crunch games in Europe, while Bayern have heritage when it comes to the continental stage, with Thomas Tuchel, in particular, thwarting the Catalan boss in recent years. It wasn't supposed to be quite this easy.
FFT's Adam Clery, however, reckons that this could be the greatest-ever team that Guardiola has ever had on his hands. That's right: even better than that one you're thinking of him. Don't believe him? Just watch…
This current Manchester City team are one of Pep Guardiola's finest-ever creations
John Stones has been particularly good for Manchester City this season (Image credit: Richard Callis/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Rather oddly, Manchester City didn't have as much of the ball as Bayern – which is not like them, is it? As Adam points out in the video, John Stones started at centre-back and moved into midfield to create a 3-2-4-1 in build.
While Guardiola has created plenty of possession-based team in the past, this one is different. City were more than happy to let Bayern have more of the ball so that they could instead force the opposition into positions they didn't want to be passing the ball, apply pressure and then release the forwards.
It worked a treat, too…
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Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
