Bayern Munich striker Thomas Muller revealed Pep Guardiola’s rather unusual motivational ploy so that the Bavarian side would go through against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League last night. The German frontman revealed that Guardiola had animatedly threatened to neuter the Bavarian players if they lost the game to the Italian side.
Guardiola’s threat had come just before extra time, with Bayern in the ascendancy. Muller revealed what was their manager demanded after the equalizing goal, saying “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.”
Oddly enough, German legend Franz Beckenbauer had predicted as much in his role as a TV pundit for Sky, opining that Guardiola would ‘neuter’ his players were they to lose. When the same was relayed to Muller, he laughed and clarified, saying “Yeah, very similar. He didn't say ‘neuter’, but he said he will cut our balls.”
Clearly, Guardiola’s motivational ploy worked, as Kingsley Coman and Thiago displayed their self-preservational spirit to score and give Bayern a 4-2 win on the night.
Match did not go according to plan
Bayern Munich had eschewed a 2-0 lead in the first leg to draw a game they had dominated 2-2. When Juventus took a 2-0 lead in the first half, Bayern were staring at the most unlikeliest of eliminations. The Bavarians were second to every ball with Juventus deadly on the counter, the Bavarians looked dead certs to go out as the game approached the 73rd minute.
Muller was in total agreement with the state of the game, saying “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."
As it turned out, a goal from Lewandowski and a last minute header from Muller restored parity for Bayern, before Guardiola inspired Thiago and Coman to work their magic in extra time, thus enabling Bayern to win the tie 6-4 on aggregate.
Bayern captain Phillip Lahm noted the pivotal nature of such a result, saying “It was an incredible night. Maybe this binds us together even more.”
