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Manchester City approached the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie with Real Madrid as if it were 2023 all over again. And for a brief period it felt like we were watching the very same team that demolished Los Blancos on the way to winning the treble. John Stones was sitting in front of the defence and boldly strolling around midfield; Kevin De Bruyne was ahead of him; Jack Grealish was strutting up and down the touchline, his foot stuck to the ball; Erling Haaland was heavily involved in attacks and scoring; Ederson was saving every shot he faced.
But City were soon reminded that the treble season was a distant memory, that two years is a long time in football and the same movie they have seen time and time again in 2024-25 started to play out. Grealish pulled up injured, De Bruyne's powers faded, Bernardo Silva was easily beaten in midfield, Ederson misplaced kicks and City threw away their lead, turning a lovely advantage for the second leg in Madrid into a daunting deficit that not even the most optimistic of Blues could see them pulling off. Pep Guardiola looked inconsolable in his post-match press conference while Stones was lost for words.
But on Saturday against Newcastle, City left their past behind and looked to the future, fuelled by their shiny new signings. Abdukodir Khusanov had Alexander Isak in his pocket, Nico Gonzalez patrolled midfield with power and elegance, giving no indication he was making his Premier League debut, and up front, Omar Marmoush scored a hat-trick in the space of 14 minutes, turning what was expected to be an unforgiving afternoon for City against top-four rivals into a highly enjoyable day out.
All of a sudden, Wednesday's trip to the Spanish capital looks far more appealing. Now City have plenty of reasons to believe that they can raid Santiago Bernabeu and come back with a last-16 place in their pocket...
