Jack Grealish turns Man City story upside down in just 20 minutes
Welcome back, Jack Grealish...hopefully.
An integral part of the Treble triumph, Grealish had his minutes immediately threatened this season by the arrival of the explosive young winger Jeremy Doku. The £55m signing settled instantly, and one goal and four assists in the demolition of Bournemouth indicated that he could very quickly be very deadly for City.
Grealish had his own surge and scored in three consecutive Premier League games in December for the first time in his career, as part of eight consecutive starts in all competitions that helped City to their fifth trophy of 2023. However, illness took him out of the team at Newcastle and he then spent five in a row on the bench.
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Oscar Bobb raised his profile with a matchwinning contribution at Newcastle and the return from injury of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland has only sharpened competition for places, particularly with Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez in such terrific form. Guardiola admitted last week that Grealish had not found his levels from last season, and it was this that was keeping him out of the team.
With so many options and the team winning game after game, it felt like an almighty challenge for the 28-year-old to get back into the XI. And if he was unable to do so this season, what would that mean for the summer - especially with a European tournament that he will expect to be part of?
Any concerns vanished in just 20 minutes in Denmark on Tuesday night. Grealish was back in for the start of the Champions League knockouts and City put on one of their best starts of the season with an astonishing domination of a shellshocked