Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised the performance of Jack Grealish after playing an hour in his first game back from injury in Tuesday's 4-0 Champions League win at Sevilla.
Grealish had not played since City's 4-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on August 13 due to a minor injury.
The pressure is on the 26-year-old England international, who underwhelmed in his first season at City after joining from Aston Villa in August last year for £100million.
Grealish played 38 times, scoring six goals in all competitions last season for City, but did not live up to the expectations of his hefty transfer fee, nor play with his typical freedom.
The midfielder started and played 62 minutes against Sevilla, and while he did not score or provide an assist, Guardiola was delighted with his return.
"Jack arrived incredible in the pre-season," Guardiola said at the post-game press conference.
"In the first game against West Ham unfortunately he had a little injury. It's important for him to have again this 53, 60 minutes."
"The pitch was uncomfortable for the players. He was so aggressive in the first half, more than aggressive than Phil [Foden] in terms of goal and making the movements in there.
"Sometimes missed the last pass but it's not easy there. We need him a lot this season. Jack will be so important. He played a really good game."
Guardiola was also rapt with the debut of deadline-day signing Manuel Akanji, who only joined team training earlier this week following his move from Borussia Dortmund.
"We are delighted, just training one day and a half with us," Guardiola said.
"He showed in Dortmund his experience in Europe. A really, really good central defender that City bought to us.
"He played really well, his focus, attention. He has a quality quite similar to Aymer [Laporte], he can break the lines with a pass. He read the spaces really well. I am very pleased for him."
Erling Haaland grabbed two of City's four goals, taking his season tally to 12 since his move from Dortmund.
"I think his numbers in his career, not just here, in previous teams is quite similar," Guardiola told BT Sport. "He has an incredible sense of goal."
Haaland became the first City player to score on both his Premier League debut and Champions League debut for the club.
The 22-year-old is also the fastest player to 25 goals in Champions League history, coming across 20 games, bettering Ruud van Nistelrooy and Filippo Inzaghi's mark of 30 games.
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
