“One can hope that Bayern will score goals. But you shouldn’t hope that City won’t score.”
That’s what Jan Aage Fjörtoft said on BILD on TV. The former Eintracht Frankfurt striker who knows the differences between the English Premier League and the Bundesliga better than almost anyone else.
What he means by that: After the 3-0 defeat in the first leg, Bayern will probably have to score more than four goals to reach the semi-finals. Because: With Erling Haaland, Manchester City currently has the best center forward in the world, while Bayern have massive problems in this position.
Ironically, the club that had the most successful times in its history with Gerd Müller in the 1970s and with Robert Lewandowski from 2014 to 2022. It is significant that the legendary shirt number 9 has not even been taken this season.
When Bayern tried to sugarcoat the 0:3 and talked about good chances, they forgot that these were mainly shots from 20 or 22 meters. The penalty area striker, who hits with both feet and his head, is missing. Who accepts and discards the ball with his back to the goal. The binds several defenders. Just like Gerd Müller and Lewandowski used to.
It turns out to be a mistake that Bayern believed they could do without a world-class centre-forward. That the nimble Sané, Gnabry, Mané, Coman and Musiala will do. Choupo-Moting plays and hits beyond his means, but with all due respect he is a bit away from world class.
You still got into Haaland poker and allegedly offered a quarter of a billion euros for five years, but the Norwegian preferred to go to City. And Lewandowski, who was still under contract in Munich at the time, was upset because of the high offer. Today the Pole leads the Spanish top scorer list, Haaland the English. He has already scored 32 goals and the Premier League record of 34 is about to fall.
Even Pep Guardiola, the inventor of the “false nine”, now relies on a real centre-forward. In addition to Haaland, he also brought Julián Álvarez, the center forward of the Argentine world champion team from Qatar.
Bayern, on the other hand, can only hope for a miracle in the second leg. Unfortunately, miracles are very rare in football too.