In two months he might be a City player again.Ĭancelo and Guardiola parted on bad terms in January, with the Portuguese furious at his lack of playing opportunities after the World Cup. Three months ago he was still a City player. Tuchel did insist he couldn't take anything from his previous meetings against City and wouldn't be saying one word about that 2021 Champions League final to his new players.īut if Tuchel knows Guardiola's City well, then Joao Cancelo knows them even better. 'It’s hard to get that sleep and this morning I woke really early and I just went to the training ground because I just kept thinking about the game.' “I will try and go to bed early - I just hope I can sleep,' he said. Tuchel played that possibility down, but when he revealed he had been unable to sleep on Sunday night as he thought about the gameplan, it might have had the bonus of getting into Guardiola's mind as well, the uncertainty of what Tuchel cooked up in the early hours at Saebener Strasse now the great unknown. One German reporter asked Tuchel in his pre-match press conference about Guardiola's Champions League trait of overthinking teams and tactics, of his ability to surprise his own team. Chelsea also won the FA Cup semi-final meeting between the two teams that season. The most notable of those came in Porto in May 2021, when Tuchel's Chelsea denied Guardiola that elusive Champions League triumph. Tuchel might only have won three of the pair's 10 meetings, but they all feel significant and all three came in five games against City. Tuchel's appointment in Bavaria during the international break would have concerned Guardiola. City don't need to look too hard or too far to risk getting spooked.

To make matters worse, there are ghosts lurking everywhere in this Bayern Munich setup. City have proved that domestically, but know they need to do so in Europe in a competition that continues to haunt them. He did, however, say Manchester City were the 'gold standard' his side are aspiring to reach. 'Don't draw the conclusion I'm a fanboy or anything like that,' he added. It’s helped me.'īut before this turned into a paean into Guardiola's brilliance, Tuchel turned back. It was a great opportunity for me that meeting, I’m very grateful to Pep for sharing his thoughts and ideas with me, he’s helped me to understand how he sees football. 'Michael Reschke knew how much I’d tried to understand Barcelona’s football. It’s not taken for granted,' the 48-year-old said.

I am definitely very grateful for Pep sharing his thoughts with me. 'Michael Reschke organised the meeting, I was very grateful and as a coach I was not a big name and not known. READ MORE: Dias back to his best after playing through injury A few hours later Tuchel sat inside the Etihad, having just had a look at the pitch and the stands ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg, and reflected on that first meeting between the pair in 2015. On Monday lunchtime Guardiola suggested Tuchel could be the best coach in the world.

At the time Guardiola was the world's master coach and Tuchel an apprentice about to embark on his first really big job.Įver since there has been a significant degree of respect between the pair, despite the flood of water that has passed under the bridge, and the latest chapter will be written in Manchester and Munich over the next week and a bit. Eight years ago Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel sat down in an iconic Munich bar to share ideas about football.

Rain on your parade fanboys