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Bayern Munich 2 - Manchester City 3: Citizens stun Bayern with dramatic comeback
MANCHESTER CITY recovered from conceding two early goals to secure a remarkable 3-2 victory over European champions Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening.
City were 2-0 down inside 12 minutes after Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze capitalised on poor defending from the Citizens - but David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov and James Milner all got on the scoresheet as Manuel Pellegrini's side recorded a famous come from behind victory.
Both sides had ensured qualification for the knockout stage before kick-off and Pellegrini admitted pre-match he was preparing for the contest with Saturday's home match against Barclays Premier League leaders Arsenal also in mind.
His selection reflected that, with the adjustments from Saturday's 1-1 draw at Southampton seeing the likes of Samir Nasri, Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo and Vincent Kompany drop out - the last three to the bench - along with the suspended Yaya Toure.
Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon was replaced by Joe Hart, who was making only his second appearance in 10 Blues games, and Edin Dzeko, the fit-again Silva, Javi Garcia and Joleon Lescott were among those also coming into the team.
Speaking after the match goalscorer Milner reflected on the team spirit that enabled the comeback.
He said: "It says a lot about the dressing-room and the character of the players.
"It was a terrible start and we gave away some sloppy goals.
"But to go to a place like this and go 2-0 down and then come back and win shows the character in this dressing-room.
"It was not enough to win the group but it shows the type of performance we need in the next round. We can come to a place like this and score goals.
"We wanted a bit of revenge after the first game (which City lost 3-1). It will give us a lot of belief. We will come up against a good team like Bayern (in the next round)."