The quarter-finals of the Champions League will start with two matches on Tuesday. Manchester City will welcome Bayern Munich in a battle between two big favorites for the overall championship. Portuguese league leaders Benfica Lisbon will challenge struggling Inter Milan. Both games kick off at 9:00 p.m.
Both Manchester and Bayern have an equal mutual balance in the number of wins and losses in the LM, both three each. This season, the “Citizens” faced another German team Dortmund in the group and eliminated Leipzig in the round of 16; with a 7-0 win in the home rematch, they equaled their highest triumph in European cups (they defeated another German team Schalke by the same ratio in 2019 in the LM).
Since September 2018, they have gone 24 consecutive unbeaten matches at home in the Champions League, winning 22 of them, and if they don’t go down against Bayern, they will set a new English record for a home unbeaten run in the competition.
“We have to start better and be more aggressive. We have had a great run and we want to continue it. Bayern are a big opponent, we have to be at our best if we are to have a chance against them,” Manchester’s defensive all-rounder Rodri told the club’s website.
Bayern, who knocked out Paris St. Germain, coach Thomas Tuchel will lead for the first time in the Champions League. The 49-year-old German beat City with Chelsea in the final of the competition in May 2021.
“He is one of the best coaches and he has been excellent everywhere. It will be a pleasure to see him again,” said Manchester coach Pep Guardiola, who managed the Bavarians from 2013 to 2016 and won seven trophies with him.
Bayern won all eight matches in the LM this season and did not concede seven times, the only two goals were scored by Pilsen.
“We will go into it boldly and with the knowledge that we need an absolutely top performance. We have to give it everything we have. We have to be smart and find the right tactical solutions,” said Tuchel. The winner of the two legs will challenge either defending champions Real Madrid or Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Inter have not lost in three cup matches against Benfica. In 1965, he defeated it in the final of the European Champions Cup (today’s LM) and in the 2003/04 season eliminated it in the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup (today’s European League).
The “Nerazzurri” went through the Portuguese teams in the cups five times in a row in the elimination double-headers, in the round of 16 of this season’s LM they advanced over Porto. However, they have currently not won six competitive duels in a row and are only fifth in the Italian league.
“Against Benfica we have two great games with a wonderful backdrop. Benfica is a strong team with a great tradition. They won their group because they played well,” stated Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
While Inter are in the top eight after 12 years, Benfica are in the top eight for the second time in a row thanks to the elimination of Brugge. However, she was eliminated in all five quarterfinals of the modern history of the LM.
“There is no favorite in this fight. We know that we have a great opponent. Inter has a lot of top and experienced players. They will play to the limit of their abilities and we have to show the same,” said “Eagles” coach Roger Schmidt. The better team will face either AC Milan or Napoli in the semi-finals.
You can watch the match between Manchester and Bayern through the online broadcast of the online newspaper Aktuálně.cz.
The second leg will be played on Wednesday, April 19.
