PARIS, France (AFP) — Erling Haaland scored his 45th goal of the season as Manchester City took a commanding 3-0 first leg lead over Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

Rodri and Bernardo Silva were also on target for the English champions, who took a giant stride towards finally conquering Europe for the first time.

Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel got the better of Guardiola and City when Chelsea manager in the 2021 final.

But in 11 meetings between the two coaches, Guardiola has still only lost three times and got the better of his German counterpart in a heavyweight clash between two of the favourites to win the competition.

Guardiola has been regularly criticised for overly tinkering with his side when it comes to the crunch in the Champions League knockout stages.

But it was Tuchel who made some bold calls with his team selection as Thomas Mueller and Sadio Mane were left on the bench, alongside Joao Cancelo on his return to the Etihad after joining Bayern on loan in January.

City fought off interest from Bayern among other European giants to win the race to sign Erling Haaland a year ago for nights like this.

The 22-year-old duly delivered in the end but uncharacteristically fluffed his lines with the first big chance of the game when his weak shot was straight at Yann Sommer.

At the other end, City were grateful to a brilliant block from Ruben Dias to prevent Jamal Musiala putting Bayern in front.

Rodri then showed the forwards how it is done as the Spaniard took aim from long range on his weaker left foot and curled a sumptuous shot into the top corner.

Bayern picked up Sommer in the January window as an emergency measure after Manuel Neuer’s season was ended by a skiing accident.

The Swiss international proved the value of that move with a number of vital saves to keep Bayern in the tie, starting with an outstretched leg to deny Ilkay Gundogan.

Leroy Sane was also returning to the Etihad after four years at City and three times the Bayern winger came close to haunting his former club either side of half-time.

Sane flashed a shot wide from distance before the break and was denied by two big saves from Ederson early in the second half.

Bayern were made to regret not making their bright start to the second period count as Matthijs de Ligt and Kingsley Coman had headers from close range blocked by desperate City defending.

Instead, City turned the screw in the final quarter to take a potentially decisive lead to Bavaria next week.

Haaland showed there is more to his game than goals with a perfectly weighted cross for Silva to head in City’s second 20 minutes from time.

Sommer then produced a fine stop low to his left to turn Julian Alvarez’s shot to safety.

But City were not to be denied their third and Haaland his goal as the Norwegian stretched out a telescopic leg to turn John Stones’ knockdown beyond Sommer.

Alvarez fired another effort inches wide and Sommer needed finger tips to turn over Rodri’s header as City went in search of a final flourish.

But Bayern will need one of the Champions League’s all-time great comebacks in eight days’ time if City are to be denied a third-consecutive semi-final.

Meanwhile, in Lisbon, Portugal , Inter Milan put one foot into the Champions League semi-finals with a comfortable 2-0 win against Benficaith Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku scoring.

The Italians, three-time winners, took a commanding quarter-final first leg lead at the Estadio da Luz, inflicting Benfica’s first defeat in the competition.

After an even first half, Barella headed home from Alessandro Bastoni’s cross and substitute Romelu Lukaku netted the second from the penalty spot late on.

Roger Schmidt’s Benfica, aiming to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1990, were not able to put a glove on the visitors, who controlled the pace of the game.

Despite Inter’s poor form, they conjured a patient, professional display when they needed it most.

Having scored two goals in their previous five games across all competitions, they managed the same tally in Lisbon with clinical finishing.

Neither side was able to create clear chances in a tight opening period.

The closest Benfica came was Andre Onana blocking a Rafa Silva drive after Federico Dimarco accidentally headed the ball into his path in the box.

Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi hammered over from 30 yards at the other end.

The Italians had the opportunity to hit the hosts on the break after half an hour, but Lautaro Martinez played a poor pass which was blocked, with 37-year-old target man Edin Dzeko alone in space.

Alex Grimaldo smashed an effort wide from distance, with Benfica frustrated and unable to get striker Goncalo Ramos involved.

With Inter pressing high up the pitch, the Eagles could not hit their flowing best, or anything close to it.

Inter Milan broke the deadlock early in the second half when Barella headed Bastoni’s looping cross back across goal and into the bottom corner.

The goal crowned a superb performance from the Italy international, while Inter’s defence kept a sixth clean sheet in nine Champions League matches this season.

Schmidt sent on David Neres for midfielder Florentino in search of the equaliser, but Inter doubled their lead with eight minutes remaining.

Joao Mario, one of Benfica’s best players this season, handled Denzel Dumfries’s cross, gifting his former side a penalty.

Lukaku drilled it beyond the reach of Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, answering some criticism of his recent form.

Coach Simone Inzaghi had selected Dzeko ahead of Lukaku after the Belgian had missed gilt-edged chances in recent weeks, but he did not miss in a high-pressure moment.

Benfica might have pulled a goal back deep in stoppage time but Onana made a fine save to deny Ramos, who seemed poised to score.

“I said that we had to come here and play without fear because we could win — we did just that,” Onana told UEFA.

“But we cannot think that we are already in the semi-final because we are not. We still need another great game like today’s next week.”

The victory gives Inter a fine chance of setting up an all-Italian semi-final against Serie A leaders Napoli or city rivals AC Milan.

Inter, who beat another Portuguese side, Porto, in the last 16, host Benfica on Wednesday, April 19 at the San Siro in the second leg.