MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola believes Bayern Munich could be more difficult opponents under Thomas Tuchel than their former boss Julian Nagelsmann.
The two sides meet in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-finals tie tomorrow night at the Etihad Stadium.
Tuchel replaced Nagelsmann recently and the former Chelsea manager has history with Guardiola during his time in England.
The German led Chelsea to beat Guardiola’s City in the UEFA Champions League final in 2021, a competition the Spaniard is desperate to bring to the Etihad Stadium.
“We want to try [to win the competition] but you have to earn it. It’s an honour to be here against an elite club like Bayern,” Guardiola said during his pre-match press conference today.
“We’ve seen the three or four games they’ve played under [Thomas] Tuchel. Maybe on Tuesday they’ll try something new. They have quality in all departments. It’ll be difficult.
“When a manager is sacked and the next manager is doing well, people say it’s a good decision. When opposite, they miss the old manager.”
Tuchel has a reputation for building well organised, hard-to-beat teams, but Guardiola insists his rival is not a defensive coach.
“Bayern is not a team that is built to defend and win in the second leg. If they defend, it’ll be because we attack well and if we defend, it’s because they attack well,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager added.
Tuchel won the first three meetings between the coaches in England but Guardiola won the last two before the German was sacked.
