Manchester City v Bayern Munich: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – live

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Team news: Bernardo starts, Cancelo on the bench

Nothing too funky from Pep Guardiola, who has made one change from the team that walloped Southampton on Saturday: Bernardo Silva replaces Riyad Mahrez.

City’s Joao Cancelo starts on the bench for Bayern, one of three intriguing changes made by Thomas Tuchel from the weekend win over Freiburg. Sadio Mane and Thomas Muller are also omitted, with Dayot Upamecano (who was suspended at the weekend), Leon Goretzka and Kingsley Coman coming into the team.

Manchester City (possible 3-2-2-3) Ederson; Akanji, Ruben Dias, Ake; Stones, Rodri; De Bruyne, Gundogan; Bernardo, Haaland, Grealish.
Substitutes: Ortega, Carson, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Sergio Gomez, Mahrez, Perrone, Palmer, Lewis.

Bayern Munich (possible 4-2-3-1) Sommer; Pavard, De Ligt, Upamecano, Davies; Goretzka, Kimmich; Sane, Musiala, Coman; Gnabry.
Substitutes: Ulreich, Schenk, Mane, Sarr, Joao Cancelo, Blind, Muller, Gravenbach, Tel, Mazraoui, Stanisic.

Referee Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain).

Preamble

Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Manchester City v Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final. This is the 46th game of City’s season, yet in some ways it’s the first. We all know how desperate they are to win the Champions League for the first time, and Pep Guardiola for the third in his career.

Guardiola, quite rightly, takes enormous pride in City’s domestic consistency – four titles in five years, five EFL or FA Cups – but he knows that, without a Champions League, his team at City isn’t complete. Isn’t nearly close to being in the same vicinity as complete.

With a lack of respect to RB Leipzig and whoever City played in the group stage, this is where the tournament really starts for Guardiola: a heavyweight clash between the two teams who are joint top of the Uefa club coefficient rankings. And if the phrase ‘joint top of the Uefa club coefficient rankings’ doesn’t stir the loins, then I don’t know what will.

For all their consistency in Europe, both City and Bayern have an unfulfilling domestic:Champions l/League ratio. Bayern won the competition in 2020, and utterly awesome they were too, but that’s the only time they’ve reached the final since they beat Dortmund at Wembley in 2013.

City’s tale of woe we know: group stage, group stage, R16, R16, SF, R16, QF, QF, QF, F, SF. (Pep campaigns are in italics.) At times they have been unfortunate, at others Pep has thought himself out of contention. If they do eventually win it – and most great teams do, sometimes when we think the moment has passed – they’ll have a helluva coming-of-age story to tell.

The big picture is everything, but there are also plenty of intriguing details. Joao Cancelo is likely to start for Bayern against his parent club; Bayern have just appointed Thomas Tuchel, who shattered City’s dreams in the final two years ago; and after years of finishing second at Dortmund, Erling Haaland has the chance to get one over on Bayern. And then there’s Pep’s quest to win a third Champions League debut and satisfy Twitter’s finest that he is not just a hairless charlatan who got lucky with Lionel Messi.

The second leg is in Munich a week tomorrow. May football be the winner. That and whoever you support.

Kick off 8pm in Manchester, 9pm in Munich.