Manchester City put one foot firmly in the Champions League semi-finals as they beat Bayern Munich 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Many predicted the Premier League and Bundesliga champions would play out a tightly-fought contest in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie.
However, as the Manchester rain did to the supporters sat in the Family Stand, City relentlessly pummelled their opponents to secure a famous win.
As City began to build up ahead of steam midway through the first half, it was Rodri who broke the deadlock with a sumptuous curling strike from distance.
Bayern spurned a handful of chances early in the second half, before Bernardo Silva doubled the advantage with a rare headed goal. Six minutes later Erling Haaland tapped home from close range to put City in a commanding position in the tie.
It’s hard to think of a single City player who didn’t play well on Tuesday, but here are the three who impressed the most.
Bernardo Silva
If Bernardo Silva is to leave City in the summer, then his performance against Bayern should be remembered as one that perfectly summed up his time in Manchester.
The Portuguese star was relentless when searching for the ball, unstoppable when dribbling at opponents and technically superb throughout. It’s hard to think of anything he did that wasn’t perfect. He even scored a header.
Pep Guardiola summed Bernardo’s performance up perfectly.
“He understands the game perfectly in every action, with and without the ball.
“He understands everything. He is one of the best players I have ever trained in my life, he is something special as a football player.”
Jack Grealish
Another week, another game of Jack Grealish proving his doubters wrong and showing just why City signed him.
The English winger was a constant thorn in Benjamin Pavard’s side – it was a miracle that it took 88 minutes and several fouls for the Frenchman to pick up a booking.
The difference between Grealish’s recent performances and those last season has been night and day. Whenever he collected the ball he drove at the Bayern defence and rarely looked to pass backwards when there was an opportunity to attack.
A goal or assist on Tuesday would have been the icing on the cake, but the 27-year-old won’t care.
Ruben Dias
Dias’ courageous block to deny Jamal Musiala just minutes before Rodri put City ahead was enough to get him on this list alone.
The intervention felt at the time it could be significant, and that certainly proved to be the case.
The rest of the evening the defender led by example, barely putting a foot wrong as City kept a clean sheet against one of the highest-scoring sides in Europe.
Honourable mentions:
Ederson – a few good saves and is dealing with one-on-one situations much better than he used to.
Erling Haaland – goal number 45 of the season in all competitions, a single-season record for a Premier League player.
