Manchester City finished with a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their quarterfinal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday. Manchester City cruised into the Champions League semifinals with a 4-1 win on aggregate. City, chasing their first Champions League title, will lock horns with defending champions and a record 14-time winner Real Madrid in the semifinals for a second successive season. Trailing 3-0 from the first leg of the quarterfinal tie, Bayern was propelled on by a spirited home crowd in Munich but failed to deliver their A-game and missed out on a few early chances.
City got an excellent opportunity to open the scoring in the 35th minute of the game when they were awarded a penalty Ilkay Gundogan’s cross grazed the bottom of Dayot Upamecano’s arm. But Erling Haaland failed to score as he blasted the spot kick just over the bar. Haaland, who missed a first-half penalty, then effectively scored the opening goal on a counterattack in the 57th minute of the game, just after the hosts missed a good chance at the other end. The city forward capitalized on a slip from Upamecano to find the net. Kevin de Bruyne breezed into the Bayern half and played the ball through to Haaland, who produced a left-footed shot past Yann Sommer. The 22-year-old Norwegian is having an amazing season as he scored his 48th goal across all competitions.
Bayern’s lack of confidence was clearly seen and their players repeatedly failed to take advantage of numerous chances. However, Bayern finally found a way to get their name on the scoresheet with just seven minutes of the tie remaining. Joshua Kimmich converted the penalty with ease to score the consolation goal in the 83rd minute. Bayern was awarded the spot kick after City defender Manuel Akanji was penalized through VAR for handball.
Both teams battled hard to score the winning goal but none could make it and eventually, the game ended as a draw. It is Bayern’s third consecutive quarterfinal exit since winning the tournament in 2020 and the second competition it has been knocked out of in as many weeks following Freiburg’s win over Bayern in the German Cup quarterfinals. Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel was sent off late with his second yellow card for protesting, while his assistant Zsolt Low was shown a direct red card.
If Manchester City wins the Champions League title, it would be Pep Guardiola’s first since winning as Barcelona coach in 2011.
