Bayern Munich finally scored the goal they had been craving all evening.
Since the opening whistle, Thomas Tuchel’s team had been pounding relentlessly on City’s door, but it was a credit to the champions of the Premier League’s defense that it took a questionable penalty for them to score. Ederson has seriously detracted from this tie with a tremendous collective defensive effort.
Even though Bayern’s goal came late, City has stumbled so frequently in this league that they were still left scratching their heads. Their two leaders were giving messages in the middle circle, which will have delighted Pep Guardiola.
When his teammates took their positions, Kevin De Bruyne stood facing them and commanded them to “keep the focus” while pointing with a finger from each hand to his temples. Ilkay Gundogan, who stood on the opposite side of the center circle, used his arms to signal for everyone to maintain their composure.
City actually followed through on that. The door was closed enough for the Blues to secure a memorable victory and set up a rematch with Real Madrid in the semi-finals despite Bayern’s persistent banging. And to be honest, despite Bayern running them rather hard throughout the course of the evening, there was never a sensation that the wheels were about to come off, despite some teetering.
In Munich, there was no longer the impression that City’s opponents formerly had that if you got them, you could cause a collapse. If you count their run to the 2021 Champions League final, it’s possible that this feeling has been gone ever since.
After a tiring evening of chasing after Kingsley Coman, Nathan Ake mused that perhaps in previous games of this nature, we didn’t like to be defending as much or suffering as much, and we always wanted things to go perfectly. But we are now aware of how difficult it will be. Everyone persevered despite our suffering, and we eventually prevailed.
Similar comments were made by Bernardo Silva in his post-game interview regarding the team’s acceptance of the fact that, at this point of significant competition, they will not be able to manage everything against top-tier opponents. More than anything else in a football game, Guardiola longs for control, but City’s pursuit of it occasionally results in some stunning explosions.
For a very long time, City was seen of as a side that could only play one style of football, although one that usually resulted in victories. Their faith will be stronger moving into the crucial games still standing between this squad and history the more they are able to endure without control and still prevail.