Manchester City secured their first win in the 2024/25 Champions League campaign on Tuesday night.
Their first game of this season’s Champions League saw the Manchester club draw 0-0 with Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium last month.
Following the recent 1-1 draw against Newcastle United in the Premier League, City took on Slovan Bratislava away from home, beating them 4-0 by the end of the game.
Goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and James McAtee secured the victory for Pep Guardiola’s side, leaving them with four points from their first two matches of the league phase.
Even though he didn’t manage to get his name on the scoresheet against the Slovakian side, another player from City’s starting XI delivered a top performance and showed everyone how much of a key figure he has become for the team this season.
- READ MORE: Who is Rico Lewis? The Man City prodigy who is one of the best Pep Guardiola has ever trained
Rico Lewis produced an impressive performance in Man City vs Slovan Bratislava
After starting and completing 81 minutes in the draw against Newcastle, Rico Lewis found himself in the starting XI again on Tuesday night.
Across the entire 90 minutes, the 19-year-old had 95 touches of the ball in total, leaving only three other City players with more.
Providing the assist for Haaland’s goal with a defence-splitting pass from midfield, Lewis made four key passes in total and created three big chances for his side.
He also had three shots on target and successfully completed the one dribble he attempted.
Even though it was a rather one-sided affair, with City having 76% possession and 28 shots at goal compared to Bratislava’s three attempts, Lewis still did some defensive work by making two tackles.
This display ultimately earned the teenager an amazing overall match rating of 9.4/10 from SofaScore, making him the highest-rated City player on the day.
What did Guardiola say about Lewis after the match against Bratislava?
In his post-match press conference, the City manager was full of praise for the academy graduate.
Specifically, Guardiola said that “there are no words” to describe how Lewis has been playing recently, as well as saying that he “does everything” on the pitch for his side.
Across all competitions this season, Lewis has appeared in all but one of City’s matches, starting all nine he’s appeared in, playing in multiple positions in the process.
Having played such a prominent role in the team so far in this campaign, Tuesday’s performance against Bratislava has proved how vital the youngster is for City in terms of being a creative and attacking threat for the Blues.
Moving forward, if Lewis continues to play regularly and deliver the type of performance he did in midweek, he’ll undoubtedly be one of the first names on the teamsheet for Guardiola.
