Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel has praised Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, calling them the best team in Europe ahead of their Champions League quarter-final clash.
City, currently on a seven-game winning streak, are in contention for a treble and are hot on the heels of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Despite Bayern having won the Champions League as recently as the 2019-20 season, Tuchel sees them as underdogs in the tie but also sees the opportunity to beat City and knock them out of Europe as enticing, having defeated them in last year’s final when he was Chelsea’s manager.
“I think you can clearly see that there’s six or seven years of Pep in this team, very offensive with and without the ball, extreme high pressing,” Tuchel told reporters at his pre-match news conference.
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“I think that Pep proves everywhere that he gives his teams his own touch. I can learn about football by playing against his teams, it makes me a better coach. It’s unique what he’s doing there. They play much more fluently than in recent years.
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“It’s the highest level that European football has to offer. They’re showing that in the league too. That makes the task appealing. We have to solve it as a team. Maybe we’ll be a bit of the underdog tomorrow, but we have to have confidence in our abilities.”
City have been spearheaded by striker Erling Haaland, who has netted 44 goals in all competitions this season in just his first campaign in England since joining from Borussia Dortmund.
Tuchel is wary of the threat Haaland, and the rest of City’s forwards will pose on Tuesday, saying: “The numbers, the athleticism, the hunger for goals is incredibly impressive.
“It’s not just him. The game speed is high, they create a lot of chances for Haaland and he has the ambition to score a lot of goals. We will only solve this together.“
