After electric storms, evacuations and Erling Haaland's maiden goal, Manchester City completed their short pre-season tour of the United States - and it was mostly a massive success.
Last year, two friendlies against Championship sides were City's preparations for a jam-packed Premier League season. So this season, some warm weather training and valuable match minutes will please Pep Guardiola - as will his side's performances, of course.
After a lively 2-1 win over Club América in Texas, the Blues continued to build momentum with a dominant but not emphatic 1-0 win against Bayern Munich at Lambeau Field. City had 22 shots across the 85 or so minutes, with the German champions only managing three, despite the quality of their starting XI.
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Erling Haaland was the star of the show; his debut turned up the excitement a few notches, and scoring a typical striker's goal - something City have dearly missed - sent supporters crazy with anticipation of what he might achieve in a sky blue shirt.
His capture ended a near-two-year long search for Sergio Agüero's successor and he will be expected to start up-front most of the time for Guardiola. He himself admitted he is not yet back up to full fitness, but his 45-minute cameo was certainly a preview of what he is capable of.
Like four out of the last five years, City will kick their season off with the annual Community Shield curtain raiser against Liverpool - this time at the King Power Stadium. Whether anyone sees it as a friendly or not, it'll be another chance to get vital minutes and for Guardiola to assess how he'll line-up when they take on West Ham in the Premier League next Sunday.
Haaland is likely to start, but the performance of those around him against Bayern Munich must be a factor in the Catalan's thinking ahead of the game. Riyad Mahrez was City's top goalscorer in all competitions last season and his recent contract extension further emphasises his ever-growing importance.
Who plays alongside those two has been the question on everybody's lips, but Jack Grealish has arrived back at the club with a fresh hunger - and it is showing in his performances. He effortlessly controlled Kevin De Bruyne's pass on Sunday morning to assist Haaland and looks to be forming a nice little partnership with the Norway international.
While he's looking in good form, Guardiola will surely keep him in the team and take advantage this weekend. However, Phil Foden is back from Croatia after training with the EDS squad and will be available for selection if the manager deems necessary - although his lack of match sharpness makes a starting birth pretty unlikely.
Behind them is a bit more simple - Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva will continue their blossoming partnership - but it is important to highlight how well that particular front five has worked well in tandem.
They all know their roles and can chop and change positions at will to give opposition defenders headaches. Liverpool play on the front foot and afford that type of space, so the team on Saturday should really pick itself in attacking areas.
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