Why Bayern Munich Will Want to End Manchester City's Champions League Hopes

On Tuesday night Bayern Munich travel to England to face what is supposed to be one of the most feared sides in European football; Manchester City. Yet in the German’s foes we find a team struggling with the concept of European football. Manuel Pellegrini’s side have just two points from four games and stand on the brink of elimination.

Such a fixture would suggest that Pep Guardiola would be set on resting a number of his first-team players. With recent injuries ravaging his well-stocked squad, the German champions could do with a day off to recuperate. But that’s not how this manager runs his club.

Guardiola will undoubtedly hope to knock Man city out of the Champions League on Tuesday night, and he’d be right to do so. 

The truth of the matter is that there are only a select few sides within world football at the moment that can overcome this Bayern side, and Manchester City are in fact one of them. 

The Premier League side possess all the technical and physical talent to hurt the Bundesliga side. Like Real Madrid last season, or even Borussia Dortmund at points this year, Bayern could find themselves at odds against a determined Man City team, if only they were prepared and coached properly. 

Jon Super/Associated Press

Vincent Kompany is still one of the best central defenders in the world, Yaya Toure is at his best amongst the world’s greatest talents and Sergio Aguero can and will score as well as any other striker in Europe; yet none of these players seem capable of hurting Bayern at the moment.

Despite their timid run of form and worrying mental state whenever they come up against sides such as Guardiola’s, the light blues do in fact have all the tools at their disposal to win the competition this season. And that will bother the Catalan coach to no end. 

The job of the football manager is to deal with any threat to his side, whether that be in the immediate term or a couple of months down the line. In that regard, Bayern will be fully aware of what they must do at the City of Manchester Stadium Tuesday; kill off any hope of Man City remaining in this competition. 

It would seem that form within European football relies on such a number of delicate factors surrounding a team or club, and as we’ve seen countless times, one side can go from troubled and toothless to title and tournament contenders in a matter of weeks. 

The key to all of this is of course the manager. 

Pellegrini is an experienced coach who’s accomplished plenty in his 26 years as a manager, yet the Champions League has always been a trophy that has continuously alluded him. 

At Real Madrid, the only other "big" club that he has managed, Pellegrini’s side stumbled through the group stages despite defeat to Milan at home, before getting knocked out to Olympique Lyon in the round of 16. He may have reached the quarter-finals with Villareal six years ago, but that still stands as an exception, rather than the status quo. 

What Guardiola and other key managers around Europe really fear is a City side that get their act together once they make the ultimate decision to bring in another manager. This team under the management of Diego Simeone, Rudi Garcia or even Jurgen Klopp is something that changes the game entirely, and this is why Bayern will hope to nip this problem in the bud. 

@Sbienkowski