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30th April 2024
04:22pm BST
Thomas Tuchel has put his neck on the line and claimed that one of his Bayern Munich players is certain to score against Real Madrid tonight.
Spoiler: It's not Harry Kane.
Bayern face the LaLiga leaders in the first leg of the Champions League semi final at the Allianz Arena as they look to try and make use of home advantage to take control ahead of the second leg in Madrid next week.
The Champions League is the only piece of silverware the German side can win after missing out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years to Bayer Leverkusen.
Tuchel could be without some of his star players including Jamal Musiala, Dayot Upamecano, Leroy Sane and Konrad Laimer are all doubts for the game but while discussing his team's availability, the German got his crystal ball out and predicted who will score.
"Serge Gnabry will score tomorrow. It will happen," he said, "I don't know how I know, but it will happen."
Gnabry has had an inconsistent season - like many of the Bayern players - and has only made 17 appearances in all competitions due to a series of injuries.
He hasn't featured since limping off in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final against Arsenal.
Time is ticking on Tuchel's reign as the former Chelsea boss prepares to leave the Bavarian club at the end of the season and with this being his last shot when it comes to winning a trophy, he has encouraged his side to play without the shackles on.
He said: "We want to play the game in isolation, without any background thoughts. That’s important to ensure we have the freedom to play a top game.
"We’ll try our all to win the game. Then we’ll know how things stand for the second leg.
"The job against Real is about getting enough people in attack to hurt them, but also not to expose ourselves.
"We need a good balance of discipline and freedom. Obviously, we also need some luck in the game, momentum."
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