"No [we aren't playing a weaker team]. We rest but this is the best team," Pep Guardiola said ahead of Manchester City's Champions League group stage game against Borussia Dortmund. It simply wasn't true as Jack Grealish was named in it.
This isn't to disparage Grealish, who is obviously a top player, but there are better players in his position at the club and if he's playing ahead of them it is naturally a weaker team. Even if that weaker team remains great, it's still weaker. And City weren't great on Wednesday night.
City managed to overcome a really tricky opponent and grind out a 2-1 win on a night in which they were once again below par. 'You'll Never Walk Alone' strangely played over the tannoy pre-match thanks to a Heineken advert, but it appeared to herald the sort of European comeback that Anfield has become synonymous with. City were poor for large chunks of the match and only began to turn things around when they were restored to their strongest team.
READ MORE: City player ratings in 2-1 win vs Dortmund
A spectacle of attacking football may well have been expected but Dortmund boss Edin Terzic made it clear before the game that his side wouldn't be approaching this match in their usual gung-ho fashion. This is a side that somehow lost a match earlier this season they were winning 2-0 in the 89th minute, but they did remarkably well to defy their nature and completely stifle the Blues.
Matts Hummels in particular was domineering in how he commanded the back-line, read the danger and was always on hand to block a dangerous-looking shot or to steal the ball away from Erling Haaland just in the nick of time. With partner Niklas Sule on hand to help. Whenever City had the ball, Dortmund's 10 outfield players would all be compact, each line of defence tightly packed with in a 12 yard box, which left such little space for any magic to spark.
Riyad Mahrez was trying his hardest to do so and was City's biggest threat as he was the only one able to repeatedly find space. Within the opening few City actually managed to beat Dortmund's offside trap and send Mahrez through but his effort was tame. So tame that it doesn't even appear to have been counted as a shot on target by some stat collectors.
But that was the only time City managed to get in behind in a stodgy 45 minutes. While Mahrez — coming into the starting XI after a poor start to the season, looked sharp — things just weren't clicking for Grealish on the opposite flank. All his shots were easily blocked, his touch was loose, his passing wayward. The puffed-out cheeks of dejection after he saw another shot, one he might have been better not taking, was deflected wide, betrayed a man who just nothing is coming off for at the moment.
The whistle blew with very little of note having transpired but Dortmund started the second half the brighter, with Marco Reus leaving Manuel Akanji sliding towards the advertising boardings before bending a shot narrowly wide.
Just as Guardiola has called for reinforcements their need increased significantly. Jude Bellingham, who had otherwise had a fairly quiet night, stole in ahead of every City player to nod in Reus' shot. There was little surprise when Grealish's name went up to be replaced, with one fan celebrating the move with real enthusiasm. The shouts of "hate him! hate him!" were a bit much but it's hard to say that Grealish is living up to his fee at this stage.
In his 58 minutes on the pitch, he didn't get any of his three shots on target, didn't complete a successful dribble and was dispossessed twice. Grealish has lost the spark that made him such an exciting player at Aston Villa and now a year on from his arrival isn't looking any more accustomed to being in Guardiola's side. There's still a lot of time to get, there of course, but questions need to be asked. Especially when Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez all did so much more in half the time.
But the threat of Haaland still loomed large. The sense of anticipation from the home crowd whenever there is even a hint of a possibility of the ball arriving to him in the box is quite something, almost Pavlovian conditioning for them to get ready to cheer because the ball will soon rustle the netting. Inevitable.
With virtually his first real sight of goal, he blasted into the side-netting with fans left in anguish as the goal they expected failed to arrive. That spurred the fans on, though, to louden their support, give a bit of lip to the travelling fans and urge their team on.
City looked so much more incisive with Foden on the pitch and it was his direct running that nearly put the ball on a silver platter for Haaland, but Hummels was again on hand to slide in and divert it clear.
Then, just as Dortmund had brought on another giant centre-back to make breaking them down even harder, a bolt comes from the blue. In Vincent Kompany-esque fashion, Stones clearly thought 'enough of this' and just whacked the ball straight into the top corner from 25 yards, although questions could be asked of Alexander Meyer in goal.
Then, as inevitable does, the inevitable happened. The momentum had shifted, City were in the ascendency. A beautiful outside-of-the-boot cross from Joao Cancelo, the slimmest of openings, an outstretched leg and Haaland had the ball in the back of the net. As he does.
Hearts leapt into mouths when Dony Mallen came close in added time but City managed to survive another scare; the third time this season they have fallen behind only to come back and get points. That resilience is a great quality but Guardiola won't be happy that his side are having to display it so often.
Dortmund did so well for so long to frustrate City but a lot of their poor display stemmed from Guardiola naming a weakened side. Whatever the manager says, City do have one, as Grealish proved.
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