Blue Days

City put in a thoroughly professional performance to take three points from their opening group fixture. Once David Silva had scored his first goal for the club after 8 minutes, City were in a position of strength and never let it slip. There should have been more before Jo bagged his first for the club in two years.

Roberto Mancini rotated a portion of his squad and played two up front with a midfield diamond. A slightly unusual system but it worked well.

Hart – While not having to make any saves, Joe needed to be on his toes at set pieces. His judgement was good with a couple of punches, then letting his defence take care of the rest. 6

Zabaleta – A welcome run out for the Argentine. Solid defensively and he took up good positions in attack to provide width. As usual Pablo finished the game in a different position to which he started – this time left-back. 7.

City head to Austria for an early 6pm (BST) kick-off against Salzburg in our opening Europa League fixture. With ourselves and Juventus the favourites to go through, Roberto Mancini could be looking for a victory.

Not that Salzburg should be underestimated, having already come through two Champions League qualifiers before dropping out 3-4 to Hapoel Tel Aviv. Last season they won all six Europa League group games defeating the likes of Lazio and Villarreal along the way.