Man City show of strength reminds Barcelona of major shift in power between clubs

One of the reasons why Pep Guardiola talking up the appeal of Barcelona for Bernardo Silva felt disappointing was because it diluted the strength of the message Manchester City had been giving off in the Catalan capital all week.

It feels like a long time since February 2020 when a furious Guardiola used the press conference when City had been (temporarily) banned from the Champions League by UEFA to warn with a snarl that Barcelona should 'not talk too loud' after they had applauded the decision. If it came across as a staunch defence of his current employers, it was also evidence that the City manager is and always will be a Blaugrana at heart.

Just as he was angry then with the way the club was being (mis)managed, since the re-election of Joan Laporta as president the bonds have been re-strengthened and Guardiola is once again a happy socio believing again in the mes que un club mythology. As a general principle the Blues boss does not want to keep unhappy players, and he needs no time whatsoever to consider why a player's head has been turned by the Camp Nou.

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It is significantly longer since Guardiola last prowled the away dugout at the ground though, with the football world shifting decisively in the six years since. As seductive as the atmosphere can be around the area as more than 90,000 fans turned up for the charity match on Wednesday, City and Barcelona have gone in opposite directions since they last met here.

Back in 2016, a City team in its opening months under Guardiola were battered here 4-0 with an unhappy Sergio Aguero smarting on the bench and Claudio Bravo - the goalkeeper controversially brought in to replace the