Guardiola vindicated as Stones thrives in ‘Barnsley Beckenbauer’ role

N ot all tactical tweaks are the result of overthinking. Pep Guardiola did not simply pick the obvious starting XI. He did not pick the starting lineup that had propelled City through the Premier League run-in. He is criticised readily enough when he makes changes and City don’t win; this was an occasion when the change paid off. Guardiola made the necessary adjustment, and was rewarded with his third Champions League.

Until mid-February City, by their own remarkable standards, had not had a particularly great season. There were questions – entirely reasonable questions for all the subsequent sneering – about what Erling Haaland did to the balance of the side. When a player doesn’t involve himself in the play, when he has only 20-30 touches in a game as standard, how can he contribute to the maintenance of possession that is so necessary to providing the control that Guardiola prioritises? Yet Haaland, obviously, is a magnificent goalscorer and offers a major threat on the counter.

To accommodate him Guardiola had to locate another midfielder. He found him in John Stones, initially stepping up from full-back into what was in effect a wing-half role. But that creates defensive problems against pacy wingers and requires a lot of readjustments. It is a risky strategy – although one Guardiola had pursued at times with Philipp Lahm and David Alaba at Bayern and with João Cancelo at City. Far safer, it turned out, to have Stones start at centre-back and step up alongside Rodri from there.

But Internazionale play with a pair of centre-forwards. If Stones had stepped up on Saturday, he risked leaving Rúben Dias to deal with both Lautaro Martínez and Edin Dzeko. The solution was to return Stones to the hybrid