Manchester City managed to keep a clean sheet in their first Champions League game of the season last night.
However, they also failed to score a goal for the first time this season in their 0-0 draw against Inter Milan.
Despite dropping points in a Champions League home group game for the first time in five years, one player from Pep Guardiola’s side stood out as one of the main positives of the night with his performance.
- Champions League 2024/25: New changes, league phase draw details, who Man City will face, full schedule
Josko Gvardiol was in top form in Man City vs Inter Milan
In last weekend’s 2-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League, Josko Gvardiol started the game on the bench but went on to play through the entirety of the second half.
This time around, the defender started and completed the full 90 minutes in City’s midweek draw against Inter at the Etihad Stadium.
During his time on the pitch, the Croatian showed how useful he can be from a defensive and attacking point of view.
For example, defensively, the 22-year-old blocked two shots, made two interceptions, one tackle, one clearance off the line and didn’t manage to get dribbled past on even one occasion.
Then in terms of his efforts on the ball, Gvardiol completed 80 of the 83 passes he attempted, giving him a passing accuracy percentage of 96%, the highest in City’s starting XI.
In addition to that, the defender, who City paid £77m to sign last year, made one key pass, had one shot at goal, completed the one dribble he attempted and created one big chance for his side.
This performance eventually earned Gvardiol a strong match rating of 8.7/10 from SofaScore, making him the highest-rated player on the night across both sides.
Gvardiol showed his class against Inter
The defender’s latest outing for the Manchester club showed just how important he is for City and why he should be one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s big Premier League match against Arsenal, this should be another game where Gvardiol not only starts but shows why his side should be in the running to potentially win a fifth consecutive league trophy by the end of the campaign.
