[h8kurdt]

And the rest

City have made the close-range tap-in their go-to goal under Guardiola and it is no surprise so many of those come from cut-backs from the left-hand side, where Silva presides. He is not always the one making the assist, but he is usually the one engineering the chance. Look at the first goal at Bournemouth for an example. It is probably no coincidence, either, that most of Sane’s good games have come with Silva in the side, and that many of his bad ones have been without Silva next to him.

Ilkay Gundogan is probably best suited to take on that role in the coming months, but the expectation – and certainly the hope around City – is that Foden will one day do it.

But there’s a long way to go this season and there’s still an awful lot that David Silva can still give. Madrid’s loss has been City’s gain