VAR denies Jesus but Manchester City stroll past Sporting with total control

To the question of who would wish to be paired with Manchester City in Friday’s draw for the quarter-finals the answer is surely no one.

This has been an easy canter through the group stage and last 16 to the business end of the Champions League for Pep Guardiola’s side. City reached last year’s final and few would wager they cannot do so again as there is a poise and know-how in his team that was missing when Lyon, Tottenham, Liverpool and Monaco all dumped City out in the knockout rounds of previous editions.

Sporting never had a chance as their hosts had done all the heavy lifting in the opening leg three weeks ago.

At 5-0 up this was the definition of an academic second leg. What Guardiola would look for, then, would be professionalism by shutting Sporting out using City’s best fluid rhythms

For this quest Guardiola gave 19-year-old Conrad Egan-Riley a Champions League debut, fielding the defender at right-back in place of a suspended Kyle Walker, the manager also moving Kevin De Bruyne to the bench as he was a booking away from suspension.

Sporting had been made to appear amateurish in the opening meeting so how they would approach tonight was a poser: would they try and avoid further embarrassment or might they try and hurl the proverbial kitchen sink at their hosts?

The problem with the latter is City’s ability to hog possession. And if they do not have the ball it is hunted down feverishly as when Gonçalo Inácio was pickpocketed near goal by Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden was found with a pass, and Sporting were suddenly in trouble.

From this moment came a Foden free-kick 20 yards out. His delivery found John Stones in the area who found Gabriel Jesus. Manuel Ugarte then seemed to bundle Jesus over and Guardiola was