Pep called me the best in the world after Man City beat Sporting - I was too upset to notice

Four up at half-time. Foot off the gas. 5-0 win after 90 minutes. Job done?

Manchester City were at their ruthless best in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash with Ruben Amorim's Sporting in 2022. They would ease through the tie with a 0-0 draw in the second leg and go on to reach the semi-finals - but Pep Guardiola needed to enforce something on his side ahead of that Etihad fixture.

He knew Sporting weren't as far away from City as the scoreline suggested, and pointed to the six shots on target his side enjoyed as evidence. They simply scored with almost every shot they had in that first half and the tie was won before 45 minutes were up.

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How could Guardiola get his point across then?

"Matheus Nunes is one of the best players in the world today," he told reporters. "Despite the difficulties and some mistakes, I have to be very satisfied because we took a big step towards the next round. Nunes is one of the best at the moment."

The comment would propel Nunes into a different kind of conversation he had experienced in the past. A late bloomer in footballing terms, he didn't go through an elite academy and had been snapped up from lower league side Estoril when he was 21. A quick adaptation at Sporting, and suddenly Nunes was earning praise from the best manager in the world.

It wasn't long before the inevitable links followed with City. But Nunes was none-the-wiser to the life-changing comment about him that was quickly gaining traction in the UK and beyond.

“The game we had against City was not very good