Bayern Munich emerged victorious from an absolutely sensational Champions League clash with Juventus on Wednesday night, but it was not looking good for Pep Guardiola's men after the Italian giants raced out into a 2-0 lead, nullifying Bayern's away goals from the first leg in the process.
A late goal from Thomas Muller levelled the scores after Robert Lewandowski had pulled one back for the hosts, and the match headed into extra-time after providing the type of entertainment and quality of play that gave those watching the impression they were watching the semi-final rather than the first knockout ties after the group stage.
Eventually, Bayern bagged two more goals to put Juve to the sword, and speaking after the game Thomas Muller explained how Pep Guardiola's threat of castration was exactly what the players needed to take them up a gear:
It wasn't going according to plan. It was a crazy match. It was weird. I didn't see much of the ball because Juve defended very deep. We didn't defend very well when we conceded the two goals.
[Before extra-time] He told us that he'd cut our balls off. Of course, there are a lot of emotions. I wouldn't be any different as a coach. We wanted to play for the third goal, because we still had energy left in us.
The BT Sport camera captured a few seconds, and from that it appears that Phillip Lahm would have been first to get the chop. Those gestures with his hands have been made far more worrying after Muller's comments.
This comes just over a week after he gave talented youngster Joshua Kimmich a passionate de-briefing on the pitch after a 0-0 draw with Dortmund.
He's certainly an intense individual, but you rarely hear any of his players speaking out against Guardiola's style, apart from Zlatan Ibrahimovic of course, but it seems that if you buy in to his ideas you have a great chance of improving as a player.
Man City fans should be licking their lips at the prospect of Pep whipping their lethargic stars into shape.
[via ESPN FC]
