Manchester City: Deploy Milner, Play Two Up Front And Be Patient Against Bayern Munich

Manchester City face the near-impossible task of beating Bayern Munich on their own patch tonight after the Bavarians won their last outing 7-0, away from home. They top the Bundesliga table without having lost a single game in their 15 and they have also won all five of their  European games conceding just twice. All teams have weaknesses though, so here are three things that I would do to beat the Germans.

Firstly, Manuel Pellegrini should be playing two up top in my opinion. The only way to get past the resilient backline seems to be breaking them down in short, sharp bursts round the box, so to implement Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero could work. Dante and Jerome Boateng are also tall, combative defenders so unleashing small, more nimble players might be a good idea.

This one man seem controversial, but I would also use James Milner. He’s not the most technically-brilliant player but he’s willing to chip in and do the dirty stuff, tucking inside and making life difficult for the opposition. He could also act as a plan B as when it’s not working he could start throwing balls into the box.

Patience is key in this game. Bayern have the ability to rip through even the strongest of sides and City will need to graft hard if they are to get anything out of it, so patience, again, is key.