Jack Grealish can use Real Madrid heartbreak to kick-start his Man City career

He was only on the pitch for 12 minutes of normal time and 30 minutes of extra-time, but Jack Grealish can take more from Manchester City's latest Champions League heartbreak than any of his teammates.

It's fair to say that Grealish has not enjoyed a dream first season in sky blue. Having arrived at City with a £100m price tag to live up to, many City fans and neutrals alike have criticised Grealish's diminished productivity in front of goal.

The former Aston Villa attacker has scored only five goals and provided three assists in 36 appearances in all competitions this season, having taken time to settle in and re-learn his game under Pep Guardiola. At Villa Grealish was the main attacking outlet with the freedom to do as he pleased, whereas at City he is just one part in a complex and finely-tuned machine.

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It was always going to take Grealish time to adapt to City's way of doing things, as it often does for new recruits. But as Guardiola has said on multiple occasions, stats only tell half the story.

As the season has worn on Guardiola has increasingly left Grealish out of his starting line-up, opting instead to introduce his newest recruit from the bench when City need to slow games down and maintain possession. Few are better than Grealish at keeping hold of the ball and drawing fouls.

That's all well and good, and as Guardiola has also said, Grealish was not signed to score 20-plus goals a season, but there is no denying that there is a huge amount of improvement to be made.

City's late collapse against Real Madrid was gut-wrenching for everyone associated with the club, but Grealish can take heart and