Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted that there is little to separate Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel and his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann and is expecting a 'difficult' test against the German giants in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday.
Bayern surprisingly announced the dismissal of Nagelsmann at the end of last month, even though the perennial Bundesliga winners are still in the mix to win three trophies this season.
Former Chelsea boss Tuchel – who guided the Blues to a 1-0 Champions League final win over Man City in 2021 – has since taken the reins at the Allianz Arena and has won two of his first three games in charge, including a narrow 1-0 Bundesliga success away against Freiburg on Saturday.
Ahead of Tuesday's mouth-watering encounter between Man City and Bayern, Guardiola has talked up Tuchel's creativity as a coach and believes that the German shares similarities with Nagelsmann.
Asked to share his thoughts on Bayern's decision to replace Nagelsmann with Tuchel at a press conference on Friday, Guardiola said: "I was surprised [with Tuchel's appointment] as I was with Nagelsmann [being sacked]. I cannot give a real opinion.
"When a manager is sacked and the next manager is doing well, people say it's a good decision. When opposite, they miss the old manager.
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Guardiola, who has won only one of his previous four meetings against Tuchel in cup competitions, added: "[Tuchel is] so creative with good build-up and connection, good runners and players who are good in the spaces. He went to [Paris Saint-Germain] and did really well, not just winning the league but getting to the final of Champions League (in 2020), the way they played was good and Chelsea he did a good job.
"Both [Tuchel and Nagelsmann] are so creative with the shape they play. We see with Tuchel, maybe they will do something new tomorrow. We will try to figure out the quality they have in all departments.
"It would've been difficult to play Bayern with Nagelsmann and with Tuchel. We don't pay much attention, we will focus on what we have to improve to do well tomorrow."
Man City enter Tuesday's contest in fine form having put together an eight-game winning run across all competitions, including a thumping 7-0 second-leg victory over German outfit RB Leipzig in the Champions League last 16.
Guardiola has reiterated his desire to lead the Citizens to Champions League glory for the first time and believes that his side need to be "perfect" to come out on top against Bayern over two legs.
"It's an honour to be here against an elite club like Bayern Munich. I am happy to be here," Guardiola added. "It's not for granted. You have to deserve it. You have to play good and try to do the first tomorrow.
"We tried last season. We tried two seasons ago. We tried three seasons ago. Every single season. But there are teams that you face that are also good, too. They want to win it too.
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"My ambition is to be here again, that's my dream, to live it again and be here in a Champions League competition. We want to try like we try all the time but it doesn't mean we win."
Guardiola continued: "Jack Nicklaus, how many majors did he win in his 30 or 40 years as a golfer? Four a year, so 120. How many did he win, 18? Wow! He loses more than he wins. That's sport. In football, basketball. Michael Jordan has six NBA titles in 16 seasons, he loses more than he wins. So these games are so difficult.
"What's important is to be here, to compete well, do our best. I live my profession in that way and if I lose, I lose. I'm not perfect, but it's important we're still there, I say many times, my biggest compliment, as a team and as an organisation, is that we're still there.
"This competition isn't about how good your form is in Premier League or FA Cup, it's how you perform during the 90, 95 minutes. It doesn't count what you have done three days ago.
"In this competition you have to be perfect there. The question is tomorrow, we [need to] be ready."
Man City, who have won each of their last six Champions League matches at the Etihad by an aggregate score of 22-5, secured a 3-2 home victory in their last meeting against Bayern in the 2014-15 group stage when Guardiola was in charge of the German giants.
Oliver Thomas
