Three unlikely Man City stars show benefit of Erling Haaland circus on pre-season tour

Pep Guardiola's first comment after Manchester City survived a lightning storm in Green Bay to record a second win in the USA was to brand their week-long tour a success, as they had picked up no injuries.

Inclement weather seems to follow City around when they venture abroad in pre-season, so it won't have come as too much of a surprise in Green Bay when a lightning storm caused more than an hour of delay to the Bayern Munich win. But this time there were no injury or pitch issues for Guardiola as the Blues head home in a better place than they flew out.

That's a rare thing in the Catalan's time in charge, despite leaving four players behind and losing another mid-way through the tour. If the six days in Houston had showcased City's commercial and international pull, the stop-off in Green Bay was more a statement of their on-pitch progress ahead of the Community Shield clash with Liverpool next week.

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Playing a first ever soccer match at the Green Bay Packers' historic Lambeau Field was an event fitting of City's superstars — led by debutant Erling Haaland — and Bayern Munich's relentless winners. A sell-out crowd of 78,000 relished the opportunity to witness history, and they would get more than they bargained for.

Green Bay is a town that would be one of the smallest Greater Manchester boroughs if it was picked up and moved back home. Its wider area has a population similar to the size of Wigan, yet it holds one of the biggest NFL stadiums and one of their most famous teams. As a taxi driver pointed out, about two thirds of Green Bay's permanent population can fit into Lambeau Field, although it's clear the