Football

Bayern Munich boss singles out ‘tremendous’ Man City attacker after Champions League draw

March 17, 2023 5:13 pm
Bayern Munich boss singles out ‘tremendous’ Man City attacker after Champions League draw

Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann has singled out “tremendous” Manchester City attacker Erling Haaland after the two clubs were drawn against each other in the Champions League.

The boss was full of praise for the young Norwegian ahead of Bayern’s Champions League quarter-final clash with the English side.

Haaland scored an astonishing five goals in the previous round against Bayern Munich’s German rivals RB Leipzig, and Nagelsmann is expecting the striker to be in similar form when they meet in the last eight.

Bayern Munich boss praises “tremendous” Haaland

Bayern Munich made their way into the quarter-finals of the competition by defeating French outfit PSG 3-0 on aggregate, with the Germans unfortunately rewarded with a tough test for their fine efforts. The winner of the quarter-final tie will then take on either Real Madrid or Chelsea in the next round.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Haaland is the top scorer in this season’s competition with 10 goals, with no other player on double figures. Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe netted eight and seven goals respectively before being knocked out of the tournament.

But while the Bayern Munich manager is aware of just how talented the young striker is, the boss believes he has players who are capable of managing the threat.

“He’s a tremendous player, he has great abilities… he’s probably a little more physical than Mbappe and certainly comparable in pace,” said Nagelsmann, as per LiveScore. “He has great heart, when he runs it’s difficult to defend against him, but we also have a couple of strong offensive players.”

Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich manager happy with draw

Nagelsmann knows a very tricky test lies ahead against City, with Pep Guardiola’s men now backed by many to go on and lift the trophy. The Spaniard has never won the competition with his current club, and will be pulling out all the stops to do just that this season.

Both Man City and Bayern Munich are also fighting to win their respective domestic leagues, meaning it will be intriguing to see which players will make it onto the pitch for the two legs. The former are second in the Premier League, with the latter currently sitting top of the Bundesliga.

Despite the challenging tie, Nagelsmann knows his club have to beat the best to be the best, with the manager welcoming the City clash in what has been a difficult route to the last eight.

“I think it’s a very good draw, a difficult draw but I think if you win the title at the end then you would not like to hear that we were lucky with our draws,” added Nagelsmann.

“We want to win it and do it by beating big teams. We’ve had PSG, we had Inter and Barcelona in the group stage, so now City and then Real Madrid or Chelsea, then probably an Italian opponent in the final, it would be a triumph that would certainly send a big message to everyone.

“It’s going to be difficult, we know that… we will prepare well and I think everyone is looking forward to it.”

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