Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola welcomed his former employers to his new home with a grain of salt and a pinch of hope for vengeance.
A fortnight ago a night that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will not soon forget same his former club and former employers put his new side to the sword in front of nearly 100,000 Catalans at the Nou Camp.
With a heavy heart and hope for vengeance that he most likely at one time never thought he would have, the Spaniard looked to return the favor when Barca made their trip to Manchester.
Summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, Ilkay Gundogan turned the provider of Guardiola’s humbling return to pride as the German drew the Citizens level after Lionel Messi had scored from a Neymar assist to open the night in the 21st minute.
Later on Gundogan would booked the night to secure a brace and a 3-1 victory for the hosts as balance was restored for Guardiola in Champions League Group C.
PLAYER RATINGS
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Willy Caballero – Barcelona failed to test Claudio Bravo’s backup, had little to do most of the night. – 6.5
Pablo Zabaleta – Worked hard on the night but the opening goal for Barcelona started from his side of the back line. – 6.5
Nicolas Otamendi – Looked out of his depth and failed to keep his composure in the face of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. – 6.0
John Stones – Two strong blocks including one for the former Everton man on former Liverpool star Luis Suarez. – 7.0
Aleksander Kolarov – Went missing at times with De Bruyne covering free kicks on the night, still a solid display and gave up nothing easy on the left flank. – 7.0
Fernandinho – Worked himself to death earning a substitution that Guardiola seemed happy to give for his had work. – 7.0
Raheem Sterling – Was in his element in the spotlight, the years of too much pressure at Liverpool did him better than he thought preparing him for nights like this, great composure on Gundogan assist. – 7.0
Ilkay Gundogan – Coming into his own under Guardiola and looks like he could be the future of the club’s midfield attacking role, two impressive goals. – 8.5
David Silva – Worked hard and moved around in the second half to get himself into the game and increase his influence. – 7.0
Kevin De Bruyne – Looks another of the young midfielders that is certain to be the future of the club and scored a brilliant strike before setting up the third goal of the night. – 8.0
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Sergio Aguero – A veterans performance in showing team play and unselfishness in his assistance for the opener. – 7.5
Manchester City now find themselves a minimum of four points from a guaranteed place in the knockout stage at the moment, but splitting points with their biggest test in FC Barcelona is certainly a positive.
Victory in their next match against Borussia Monchengladbach could see three points be enough to go through if they win and Barcelona defeat Celtic in Glasgow.