4-0 v. Leicester. Pep will have to rest some players for this match but the team that beat Bayern feels like his best XI, the one he'll want for Bayern away, Madrid and Istanbul. Could it even be the best team he's made since he was at Barcelona, every piece coming together in a way that's at last going to complete his vision of how football should be played?
And this brings to mind the scenes in "Chariots of Fire" with Eric Liddell going for Olympic gold in that 400 m. final in Paris. Drawn in the outside lane he cheerily tells his bemused rivals before the start "I don't suppose I'll see you till after the race" -that's the kind of confidence flowing through this City side. Then as Liddell speeds irresistibly to victory his trainer just sits in the grandstand with a wry approving smile, not needing to cheer or yell because he knows that the talent, hard work, preparation and mental resolve are all there in one place and it won't matter what anyone else does. I think Pep will have a moment like that with this City side and it'll come some time in the second half in Istanbul when he stops being an agitated demon on the touchline, folds his arms and quietly admires the beauty of his creation.
It's April, days are longer and warmer. City are what they say about the French rugby team, they always play better with the sun on their backs. So Come On, City! Allez les Bleus!
