Manchester City defeated Sparta Prague 5-0 on Wednesday night to secure another Champions League triumph.
Phil Foden gave City the lead in the third minute, but they failed to score again for the remainder of the first half.
However, Pep Guardiola’s team won the Champions League for the second time this season thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland and goals from John Stones and Matheus Nunes.
With this triumph, Haaland’s Champions League goal total surpassed Neymar’s, as the Norwegian now has 44 goals to Neymar’s 43.
The City manager gave some noteworthy appreciation for another member of his team who was instrumental in Wednesday’s triumph after the game at the Etihad Stadium was over.
Following Man City’s match against Sparta Prague, Pep Guardiola gushed about Matheus Nunes.
When asked what he thought of Nunes’ performance during his post-match news conference following City’s most recent midweek fixture, Guardiola provided this evaluation.
Very good, he said. How pleased were all of his teammates after he scored the goal? To be honest, he’s very popular. He is a kind man.
He is as quick as Haaland if you can run in transition, which is one of his specialities. He is incredible; no one can stop him when he sprints 30 or 40 meters.
We need him because he possesses unique talents that we lack. He can do a wide variety of roles. His kindness in [going] defensively and backwards.
“He only has one issue, which is that his manager might not give him the minutes he is entitled to.”
What was Nunes’s performance versus Sparta?
Nunes played the entire ninety minutes against Sparta as a left-winger, marking just his third start of the season.
The 26-year-old, who finished with 89 touches of the ball overall, helped City score their third and fourth goals before winning the penalty and scoring it himself to give the Blues their fifth and last goal of the game.
Nunes demonstrated his versatility both on and off the ball by making three crucial passes and three tackles.
It also supports Guardiola’s claim that the middle player works hard while playing defence.
In the end, SofaScore gave Nunes an incredible total match rating of 10/10 for this performance.
Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb, and Savinho all had extremely great things to say about Nunes after he posted something on his Instagram account following the game.
It will be interesting to observe if Nunes becomes a more important member of the City squad going forward, as Guardiola has implied that he hasn’t been given the midfielder the minutes he deserves.