Pep Guardiola's bold gambles send huge Man City statement to Real Madrid

Are you watching, Arsenal and Liverpool?

And while we're at it, Real Madrid? The Spanish champions may have been able to put their feet up for a week to prepare for their Champions League quarter-final with the Blues but Carlo Ancelotti can't have taken much enjoyment from watching two different City teams pick up six important Premier League points against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.

These games have been another reminder that this is Pep Guardiola's world that everyone else lives in. Having dropped the two biggest names to the bench in midweek, against Palace he went without the top scorer in the Premier League for 2024 with Phil Foden and his nine goals named as a substitute.

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"If we win, it's a great decision. If we lose, why did I do that?" the manager said ahead of the game. He knew what the narrative would be - especially after making clear on Friday that there was no room to drop any points in the Premier League title race - but he made the tough call anyway because, as his career will tell you, he usually gets it right.

Not that it looked that way three minutes in at Selhurst Park with the home team already a goal to the good after two basic errors from John Stones. If it was a positive to see him again in a City shirt for the first time since Liverpool away last month, there was clear evidence of rust as he gave the ball away and then was unable to stop Jean-Philippe Mateta powering past him and finishing past Stefan Ortega.

This season's City side have been uncharacteristically poor at defending and conceding goals, but then they have also been significantly better at responding in