Pep Guardiola gets double Man City boost after concerns last week

Manchester City have played matches on the last two Wednesdays that could not have felt more different.

Last week, a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa was remarkable both for extending the winless run of the Premier League champions to four games but also for the manner in which they were comprehensively and brutally second best throughout. Guardiola did not have any answers on that night, instead saying that he would have to go away and reflect on how to "change the dynamic".

With a number of City's best players injured and more struggling for form, those in attendance for the game and press conference will rarely have seen this side and its manager looking so vulnerable. The fightback started with the media on Friday and carried onto Kenilworth Road two days later despite the absence due to injury of Erling Haaland, where Guardiola challenged the players at half-time to do what big clubs do and overcome the setback of being a goal behind despite dominating rather than feeling sorry for themselves about it.

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Arsenal's defeat to Aston Villa the day before added to the impression that a title race with more teams this year will mean fewer points are needed to be champions, and the 2-1 victory over Luton meant that City only ended the week a point further off the top than they started it - four off new leaders Liverpool. Guardiola had managed a double boost of proving outwardly that City's blip was hardly terminal while inwardly trying to give the team the "shake" that he had felt was needed for a month.

And so onto Belgrade, where the manager cracked jokes with travelling