Everyone inside Ashton Gate on Tuesday had a ticket to The Phil Foden Show.
Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were the biggest names in the matchday squad but as soon as the action started down in Bristol it became clear that this game was only going to be about one player. Foden was a cut above everyone else, with a touch to drool over and a quality so relentless that his opposition full-back may need some sympathy cards through the post.
Foden in this form looks like everything Guardiola has gushed him to be, at his flabbergasting best that will prove too good for anyone he comes up against. And yet, how do you drop Jack Grealish or Riyad Mahrez?
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Foden may have grabbed two against Bristol City and did run the show, yet his first goal was indebted to terrific play from Mahrez, and Grealish - as well as teeing up Kevin De Bruyne's third - was responsible for wiping out a Bristol City threat that looked extremely dangerous and killing off the contest.
Amid wild inconsistency around them, Mahrez and Grealish have been the two constants for Guardiola and at least one of them has been directly involved in 60 per cent of City goals since the World Cup. In the 17 games since domestic football returned, the pair have 21 goals and assists between them (13 for Mahrez, eight for Grealish).
Those numbers are incredible, a guarantee of at least a goal a game when the pair start. However good Foden looks, that is some record to give up.
Guardiola has noticed too, and made sure he mentioned both Mahrez and Grealish when praising individuals after the win over Bristol City despite talk of Foden headlining his press conference. The reality is that all will play, because City will need them all as they look to go all the way in three competitions yet nobody will want to be left out in the biggest fixtures.
Such a decision, though, is the sort that Guardiola absolutely hates to make yet fundamentally needs if his team is to be successful. What a difference from earlier points in the season, when the choice wasn't between several stars at the top of the game but scratching around trying to find someone whose form hadn't gone out of the window.
As good and Mahrez and Grealish have been, there can be no certainty that form carries on forever so perhaps Foden's return to prominence could be the lift they need to continue it for a bit longer knowing that there is less leeway for their performance levels to drop.
It may be a tougher decision for Guardiola, but it will be one he is happier to be making.
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