City cruise on autopilot in an embarrassing mismatch

A Pep Guardiola side is often described as the best in Champions League history. Another has the statistical distinction as the hardest to beat.

- RICHARD JOLLY

For many, the 2011 Barcelona team reached a level unequalled before or since. Manchester City’s class of 2024, however, stand alone in another respect.

In going 26 European Cup or Champions League games undefeated – even with the sizeable and significant caveat they did lose a penalty shootout in that time – they accomplished something no one else ever had. In a microcosm of much in Manchester football, they stripped the record from their neighbours: Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United had set the previous best of 25.

A record-breaking night was also a routine one. City’s ability to beat the competition’s lesser lights has underpinned their run. They duly overcame Sparta Prague; a 5-0 scoreline scarcely counted as a shock. Perhaps it is damning City with faint praise to say there was a formulaic feel to it, even if their second goal certainly was not an identikit strike from the Guardiola blueprint.