Pep Guardiola couldn't have dreamed of a better Champions League night at the Etihad. Seven goals, five for Erling Haaland, a chance to remind the 'Twitter Guys' he might know more than them, and he still got time to release some years-long frustration over getting snubbed by Julia Roberts.
City remain alive in all three competitions, and Guardiola has returned the side to consistent form by doing things his way. A 7-0 scoreline can provide a decent justification of your tactics, and the manager was in a bullish mood after the game on Tuesday night.
After the headline-grabbing Roberts and 'Twitter Guys' comments, Guardiola also gave a passionate defence of his approach against Leipzig - one aspect of which will go firmly under the radar given City's attacking exploits.
ALSO READ: Pep Guardiola explains why he denied Erling Haaland double hat-trick chance vs RB Leipzig
Asked about whether five-goal hero Erling Haaland (plus Kevin De Bruyne's brilliance) gives Guardiola a City team who he finally thinks can compete in the Champions League, the manager didn't speak about his forwards at all. His point about City being ruthless in a competition where they have not been in the knockout stages, again focussed on the defence.
"Always we have scored goals in the Champions League," he said. "We scored four goals against Real Madrid, we scored six against Monaco the first year, four against Tottenham. The problem was not I have the feeling we won't score goals, the problem is we concede stupid goals in the past. We give them, most of the gifts, we give them."
City allowed just one shot on target for Leipzig on Tuesday, after restricting Crystal Palace to no shots on Ederson's goal at the weekend. That's a ringing endorsement of the four centre-backs he's played in his back four across both games, and Guardiola went on to explain why he kept faith in John Stones, Manu Akanji, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake.
He said: "To play four centre-backs in that way doesn't mean you are a defending team. They are so solid, Nathan is so focussed for 90 minutes, stable here [in the head]. Ruben, Manu are so stable here. It doesn't matter what happens, John as well. We need it in this competition. Today, the chances we have we give them. Eddy with some process we have to be careful, we have to do it but be careful. In terms of goals since I arrive, with Sergio [Aguero], Gabby [Jesus], we score a lot of goals."
When Guardiola wanted to bring Sergio Gomez on in the second half with the game firmly won, it was John Stones he replaced, allowing Nathan Ake a useful half-hour in the centre. Both Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte remained on the bench, and this was the 15th game in the last 20 where Laporte hadn't started.
Only five of those were enforced absences, with Laporte seemingly firmly out of favour. If he can't get into a back-four filled with central defenders, he appears to be fifth choice at best in defence. When Walker comes back, or Rico Lewis gets a game, his chances of starting will be further reduced.
He's been overlooked in a Champions League last-16 second leg, a Premier League title showdown with Arsenal, and two big games against Tottenham. He may get a recall against Burnley in the FA Cup, yet that would only emphasise how out-of-favour he is. When City warmed up before the Leipzig win, he was the last out of the substitutes, a good 15 minutes later than the majority of players, and didn't even take his winter coat off. He knew he wasn't coming on.
Guardiola likes his non-starters to be involved, though, and have a mindset to help the team. He's praised Ake for keeping relentlessly positive when not playing last season, and his comments about the mental strength of the four defenders who started on Tuesday suggests that was a quality favoured as much as any tactical consideration.
In Laporte's defence, he was cheerleading the team on social media after the game, fully embracing the love for record-breaker Haaland, and Guardiola would go on to defend Laporte in his press conference He asked: "Why don't I play Riyad [Mahrez]? Why don't I play Phil [Foden]?Why don't I play Laporte? We won, I'm right. We lose, I'm wrong. I have a lot of info that all of you, fans included, don't have. I have experience of the players
"Two weeks before we weren't ready vs Leipzig. What a disaster it was in the second half. Maybe we don't play the level we play but we play away in the Champions League is very different. The pressure and many things we have to consider."
He's right that a result skews the perception of a team selection, but numbers also don't lie - nor do Guardiola's regular comments when it comes to mentality. As City march on in Europe, Guardiola will want players fully committed to the cause.
On a night of endless positive for City, the continued absence of Laporte is one of few issues that will need to be ironed out in the coming weeks. It sounds like he's got a big task to win back his place in City's new-look defence.
Read more:
