Not at their best, not in their usual scintillating, relentless form, not quite playing with the belief and aura of inevitability that scoring the first game’s goal means the win is all but theirs. Manchester City might be aiming now to be crowned the planet’s finest at the Club World Cup, but Pep Guardiola will know all the same that to make it four Premier League titles in a row, they’ll have to be much-improved in consistency terms across the second half of the campaign.
And yet, there’s a single huge reason to feel that’s likely to be the case: the return of Kevin de Bruyne.
