With Bayern Munich, Can Joao Cancelo Will Play Man City In The UCL Quarterfinal.

On Friday morning, Manchester City was informed of their Champions League destiny. There may be some team reunions in the near future.

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Pep Guardiola’s team defeated RB Leipzig 8-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, and in the quarterfinals they will face another German team, this time Bayern Munich.

On April 11 or 12, City will host the Bundesliga winners at the Etihad Stadium for the opening leg, with the second match taking place in Bavaria the following week.

If City wins the match, they will go to the semifinals where they will play either Real Madrid or Chelsea. One of Benfica, Inter Milan, AC Milan or Napoli will play in the final in Istanbul on June 10th.

Bayern and City have played each other many times in the Champions League throughout the years, but this matchup promises to be a bit more exciting.

This is due to City’s reunion with both loaned fullback Joao Cancelo and former blue Leroy Sane.

The Portuguese international’s six-month loan move to Bayern was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the January transfer season.

In UEFA tournaments, loanees are permitted to play their parent club, despite Premier League regulations prohibiting this.

Also, starting in 2018, UEFA has permitted players to compete for two separate teams during the same European season. As a result, Cancelo might be chosen by Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann to face City.

Cancelo had been one of City’s most important creative players during the previous two of seasons, but in the days after the 2022 World Cup, it became obvious that something wasn’t right.

Pep Guardiola favored Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis as his full-backs, leaving the 28-year-old on the sidelines for the most of January.

The coaching staff at City was worried that Cancelo’s sour attitude would negatively impact the whole team after he had a poor reaction to his limited playing time.

Guardiola openly criticized his team’s attitude around the same time, thus the only viable option was a sudden departure.

City did not obstruct Cancelo when he informed the team that he wanted to depart and Bayern made a loan offer.

While there is a £61 million buy option in the loan deal, current rumors indicate that Bayern do not want to retain Cancelo.

Nagelsmann uses a three-man defense without full-backs, hence the player is not a natural match for his system.

It is uncertain if Cancelo will start the match versus City.