Juve will have taken a psychological knock even before kick-off, seeing the name of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri on the team sheet – it was the 29-year-old’s first start since sustaining a serious knee injury against Arsenal nine months ago.
The Spaniard managed 65 minutes and showed why he is so integral to this City team, displaying his assuredness in the middle of the park with a metronomic performance, completing a total of 67 passes.
By the time he left the pitch, only defender Ruben Dias (84) had more touches on the ball than Rodri’s 79, highlighting the importance of controlling the game.
“Everyone knows how important is Rodri,” said Guardiola. “He is one of the best players in the world. I am happy he had a good 60 minutes and he can help us a lot.
“Last season we couldn’t do it for the injuries. This season we can have players fit and try to perform similar to today.”
Guardiola said a lengthy injury list derailed last season but against Juve he had an almost entirely fit squad to select from, barring the injured Claudio Echeverri.
Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Phil Foden were all on the scoresheet as City racked up 13 goals in their three group stage games.
“The forward play and the goals Man City score is fantastic,” said Given. “When they won the title four times in a row we thought these guys were robots.
“Even Pep mentions ‘we have got our mojo back’. We have got the Man City back, which we all thought was automatic.
“It shows us that they are just human beings.”
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