The lads left at home with their feet up had a good night. Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Aymeric Laporte in town; Joao Cancelo in the suburbs. Fancy becoming better footballers while watching the tele in your living room. Must be nice.
This did not have to be a pointless exercise for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola won’t have planned for that eventuality but that is what it appeared on the surface. A meaningless defeat behind closed doors. Move on quickly.
But that is not quite the story and perhaps this all told Guardiola a little bit extra about his players.