THE NOTEBOOK: Stones puts in huge shift and Gundogan loses his cool
THE NOTEBOOK: John Stones put in a huge shift to help Manchester City see off Bayern, Ilkay Gundogan lost his cool during feisty encounter and Erling Haaland is keen to extend stay
- OLIVER HOLT: Man City carrying the same aura as 1999 treble winners United
- City advanced to Champions League semi finals after drawing 1-1 with Bayern
- Haaland open to discussing the prospect of extending his contract by a year
Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bayern Munich on Wednesday to cruise into the Champions League semi-finals with a 4-1 aggregate win that moved them a step closer to an elusive first title in the competition.
City forward Erling Haaland, who had missed a first-half penalty, made amends in the 57th minute, drilling in his 48th goal in all competitions this season to kill off the tie.
Losing finalists in 2021, Pep Guardiola’s team had a 3-0 advantage from the first leg and soaked up considerable Bayern pressure before Haaland’s goal.
The Bavarians, who now have only the Bundesliga title left to play for, snatched a draw on the night courtesy of an 83rd-minute Joshua Kimmich penalty but had coach Thomas Tuchel sent to the stands after a second booking in the 86th minute to round off a frustrating evening.
Mail Sport’s JACK GAUGHAN looks at some of the things you may have missed.
Manchester City defender John Stones was required to put in one huge shift at the back
Stones shines for City
John Stones had to put in a huge shift — the biggest since Pep Guardiola has rotated him between centre half and alongside Rodri.
Bayern’s speedy attackers meant Stones had no time to drop back in — especially when City were caught on a transition around halfway.
The game’s chaotic nature was only enhanced by a slippery surface, with Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake constantly losing their footing.
Haaland keen to extend stay
The good news keeps coming for Manchester City: Erling Haaland is open to discussing the prospect of extending his contract by a year.
Haaland, who earns £400,000 a week, has been the signing of the season and redefined the levels of goalscoring in the Premier League.
It’s understood that one of two release clauses — amounting £175million — was removed when Pep Guardiola penned fresh terms earlier in the season.
City are keen to renegotiate when the striker’s representative, Rafaela Pimenta, formalises the interest.
Erling Haaland has already settled well at Manchester City and starred on Wednesday night
He has settled well at the Etihad, a popular member of the dressing room, and the feeling is that the striker wants to stay longer than the initial contract until 2027.
The attention paid to fixing persistent injury problems has impressed Haaland.
It’s not unusual for new signings to land new contracts, with Julian Alvarez given an extension last month.
Ref delays start
There is a tradition that thousands of supporters arrive exceptionally early in the safe standing section, filling the end behind a goal, and Bayern had been ramping up the atmosphere for well over an hour.
The noise was building nicely up until kick-off, only for referee Clement Turpin to find his earpiece required fixing, delaying the start by almost three minutes, and leaving the Allianz Arena flat – although not for long.
Gundogan loses his cool
Ilkay Gundogan is one of the calmest individuals you could ever meet so it really spoke to how much needle was at play here when he totally lost his rag at Joshua Kimmich.
Gundogan had been fouled but reacted angrily — running after Kimmich — and the pair, both booked, had to be separated.
Joao Cancelo had earlier wiped out Bernardo Silva too, with the away end chanting ‘City reject’ at the full back.
Man City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan confronted Bayern Muinch’s Joshua Kimmich
City honour Munich victims
A trio of Manchester City executives visited the Manchesterplatz memorial, stone etched with the names of the 23 people who died in the Munich Air Disaster, on the morning of this second leg.
Operations director Danny Wilson lay two scarves – one City, one Manchester United – alongside a small group of supporters.
Meanwhile, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was seen mingling with fans in the city centre later in the day.
Upamecano meant for Man United
If things had been different, Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano would have been in Seville on Thursday night.
Given their defensive injury crisis, Manchester United could have done with him, too.
Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano had another evening to forget in the second leg
When in the academy at Valenciennes, Upamecano was so sure that he was off to Old Trafford that he had packed his bags.
‘I was meant to sign for United,’ he said. ‘So, I said goodbye to everyone, thanked everyone.
It was really difficult, everyone attacked me: “You made fun of us, you big liar, you told us fibs! You weren’t even supposed to sign at Manchester United actually”.
‘And there, I understood one thing: when you are not sure of something, you should never say it. I learned that at 16, you have to hold your tongue.’
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